430 Kansas State Board of Agriculture. 



Feeding excessive amounts of protein also has a cloying effect upon the 

 whole animal system, resulting in impaired nutrition, filling and swelling 

 of the legs and hocks, inability to stand hard work, excessive sweating, 

 and impaired respiration. So it must be remembered that if the feeder 

 hopes to secure satisfactory results in feeding alfalfa hay to horses and 

 mules he must feed it in limited amounts less to work horses than to 

 idle horses. 



Another important consideration in feeding alfalfa hay to horses and 

 mules is the state of maturity at which the hay has been cut. We have 

 been taught that alfalfa should be cut when the field is about one-tenth 

 in bloom. At this state of maturity it makes excellent hay for cattle, 

 hogs and sheep, but such hay is too "washy" for horses. For horse hay 

 alfalfa should not be cut until the full-bloom stage has been reached. 

 This has been demonstrated by experience as well as by experiment. 



ALFALFA HAY FOR WORK HORSES. 



The value of the right kind of alfalfa hay for work horses when fed 

 in limited amounts was nicely demonstrated in the horse-feeding experi- 

 ment conducted at Fort Riley under the direction of the Kansas Experi- 

 ment Station. A summary of these results is shown in the table on page 

 following. 



Comparing lots 12 and 5, we find that these two lots received daily 

 practically the same amounts of corn per thousand pounds live weight. 

 In addition to the corn the horses in lot 5 received daily 3.36 pounds of 

 oats per thousand pounds live weight, while the horses in lot 12 received 

 daily, in addition to the corn, only 1.7 pounds of oats per thousand 

 pounds live weight. Thus the horses in lot 5 received daily 10.08 pounds 

 of grain, while those in lot 12 received daily 8.5 pounds of grain per 

 thousand pounds live weight. The horses in lot 5, receiving 10.08 pounds 

 of grain, were fed daily 11.75 pounds of prairie hay per thousand 

 pounds live weight, while the horses in lot 12, receiving 8.5 pounds of 

 grain, were fed daily only 8.5 pounds of alfalfa hay per thousand pounds 

 live weight. The horses in lot 12, receiving the smaller amounts of both 

 grain and hay, showed better thrift and condition than those in lot 5, 

 did their work just as well in every respect, and made a gain of 25.6 

 pounds per horse, while those in lot 5 showed a loss of 13.3 pounds per 

 horse. The ration used in lot 12 resulted in a reduction of 15.57 per 

 cent in the grain portion of the daily ration per thousand pounds live 

 weight and 27.7 per cent in the hay. 



Comparing lots 12 and 2, we find that the horses in lot 12 made 

 a gain of 25.6 pounds per horse, while the horses in lot 2 lost 29.3 

 pounds per horse during the test. In lot 12 the grain fed daily per 

 thousand pounds live weight was reduced 17.23 per cent, the hay 29.1 

 per cent, and the cost of the daily ration per thousand pounds live 

 weight 26.2 per cent. To repeat, here was fed a ration satisfactory in 

 every respect and 26.2 per cent cheaper than a ration commonly fed. 



In the two comparisons above, the substitution of alfalfa hay re- 

 duced the amount of hay required almost 30 per cent, at the same time 

 reducing the amount of grain, on an average, about 16 per cent. While 



