416 



Kansas State Board of Agriculture. 



value of timothy and alfalfa hay. The following table shows the results 

 of this trial : 



TABLE No. 45. Comparative feeding value of timothy and alfalfa to dairy cows. 



Total increase on alfalfa hay , 



$60.47 



The value of the milk produced was figured at $1.60 per hundred 

 pounds, the average market price. Five tons of alfalfa were fed during 

 the trial, and this amount of hay produced $60.47 worth more milk than 

 timothy hay, and we can conclude that alfalfa hay, according to this trial, 

 is worth $12.09 more per ton than timothy, when milk is selling at $1.60 

 per hundred pounds. 



Very few farmers realize the importance of good roughage in the dairy 

 cow's ration. No other part of the feed plays so important a part as the 

 roughage, and principally the hay, that an animal receives. In making up 

 a ration for milk cows one should begin with the roughage and give them 

 all they will clean up nicely. The kind and condition of the hay and other 

 roughage fed will determine the amount and kind of grain to be fed. 

 Where alfalfa hay is used as the roughage the principal grain used may 

 be made largely of corn or kafir or similar grain. Alfalfa and corn make 

 a good ration for the average milch cow. It contains the proper nutrients 

 and is a balanced ration. Cows giving a large quantity of milk should 

 have other grain. 



Following are several good rations with alfalfa as the principal rough- 

 age. The amounts given in these rations are calculated as the daily 

 amount used by a cow weighing about 1000 pounds and producing 25 

 pounds of 4 per cent milk : 



TABLE No. 46. Rations for dairy cows, which include alfalfa, in pounds. 



The second, third and fourth crops of alfalfa hay are considered the 

 best for dairy cattle. The popularity of alfalfa as a dairy feed is also 

 emphasized by the fact that many mills grind the alfalfa and sell it in 

 100-pound bags, dairymen being the principal consumers of such feed. 



