Alfalfa in Kansas. 403 



The pecuniary value of the honey itself should not be overlooked. In 

 an alfalfa region 100 pounds of comb honey often is yielded by a single 

 hive in one season. The authentic daily record from the Colorado State 

 Beekeepers' Association of one hive of bees shows 182 pounds. 



Alfalfa honey always finds a ready market. Regarding the quality, 

 Chesire defines ideal honey as : "An ideal sample would have a delicate but 

 characteristic aroma, a rich flavor, leaving a distinct impression on the 

 back of the palate, and would be of a straw or pale amber color. It should 

 possess perfect clearness, and, as distinct from clearness, brightness due 

 to a high refractive index, with density almost amounting to toughness, 

 so that the air beneath the cork should rise very slowly through the mass 

 upon the inversion of the bottle." 



Of six samples submitted, a competent judge placed the alfalfa honey 

 as the one most nearly approaching this standard. 



The greatest enthusiasm manifested in apiculture is found in localities 

 where large areas of alfalfa exist. For example, if you will refer to the 

 tables of the Kansas State Board of Agriculture, published from time to 

 time, you will note that the largest production of honey comes from those 

 counties characterized by the largest acreage of alfalfa. (See "Bees," 

 in index.) 



THE FEEDING CONSTITUENTS OF ALFALFA. 



By C. O. SWANSON, Assistant Professor of Chemistryj Kansas State Agricultural College. 



The feeding constituents which are usually determined in a feed are: 

 water, ash, crude protein, crude fiber, nitrogen-free extract, and ether 

 extract. Water is usually present in all feeds. Well-cured alfalfa will 

 contain about 8 per cent water, or 160 pounds per ton. The amount of 

 water in a feed depends on the treatment given the feed, the nature of the 

 feed, and the condition of the atmosphere. The amount of water in a feed 

 is of great economic importance. Alfalfa hay, field cured, having 25 per 

 cent moisture, or 500 pounds per ton, has not the same value per ton as 

 the same hay thoroughly cured, when the moisture content is 8 per cent, 

 or 160 pounds per ton. 



The ash is the mineral portion of the feed. It contains, with the excep- 

 tion of nitrogen, all of the materials which the plant obtains from the 

 soil. The elements present in the ash figure largely, therefore, in all soil- 

 fertility problems. The ash furnishes to the animal the elements neces- 

 sary for building bones, and contributes to its general well-being. The 

 two elements in the ash of greatest importance in nutrition are phosphorus 

 and calcium. Alfalfa contains large amounts of these elements. Well- 

 cured alfalfa cut in one-tenth bloom contains 0.23 per cent phosphorus 

 and 1.50 per cent calcium, or 4.6 pounds of phosphorus and 30 pounds of 

 calcium per ton. This phosphorus is equivalent to very nearly 32 pounds 

 of bone phosphate. 



Crude protein includes all of the nitrogenous matter in the plant. It 

 furnishes material for growth and repair. It can also be used by the 

 animal for the production of heat and energy. In the absence of a proper 

 amount of protein growth does not take place. Alfalfa is classed with 



