Alfalfa in Kansas. 415 



uent of the ration for breeding animals. There is no other crop that we 

 grow, when properly used, that will produce as much growth in the 

 same length of time as alfalfa supplemented with corn and other feeds 

 that are rich in fat- and energy-making elements. (See "Beef Cattle," 

 in index.) 



ALFALFA AS FEED FOR DAIRY CATTLE. 



By O. E. REED, Professor of Dairy Husbandry, Kansas State Agricultural College. 



Alfalfa is generally conceded to be the choicest of all roughage for 

 dairy cows. This fact is due to the protein and mineral matter con- 

 tained in the alfalfa plant. In many sections of the country, particu- 

 larly in the irrigated sections, alfalfa is the sole feed for large herds of 

 dairy cattle. It is fed green in summer and as dry roughage in winter. 

 Mr. William Bigger, a dairyman near Topeka, and other farmers in 

 Kansas, have followed this system with good results. The fact that 

 alfalfa contains a high percentage of protein makes it an excellent 

 foundation for the dairy ration. Protein is the most expensive feed 

 element on the market, and when it can be grown on the farm in the 

 form of alfalfa or other legumes the feed bill for dairy cattle is con- 

 siderably reduced. When one is forced to buy protein he must purchase 

 such feed as cottonseed meal, linseed meal, etc., and these feeds are the 

 most concentrated feeds that we have on the market; hence we may 

 conclude that the farmer who can grow alfalfa and other leguminous hay 

 can produce milk and butter fat more economically than the farmer 

 who lives in the country where such crops can not be grown. A number 

 of experiments have been conducted relative to the feeding value of 

 alfalfa. Alfalfa compares very closely to wheat bran. 



TABLE No. 44. The digestible nutrients of 100 pounds of wheat bran and alfalfa. 



Several attempts have been made to substitute alfalfa hay, or ground 

 alfalfa, for bran. At the Vermont Experiment Station it has been found 

 that on substituting ground alfalfa hay for the same weight of bran, that 

 the cows decreased from 3 to 6 per cent in their milk flow. The Pennsyl- 

 vania Experiment Station also found that the cows lost about 5 per cent 

 when the alfalfa was substituted for wheat bran. These trials show that 

 alfalfa is nearly as useful as the same amount of wheat bran. When 

 the cost of the two feeds is considered, alfalfa furnishes digestible nu- 

 trients much cheaper than the bran. At the Illinois Experiment Station 

 a trial was conducted with dairy cows to show the comparative feeding 



