COARSE FEEDS AND THEIR VALUE 295 



cured carefully and protected from the wet as much as pos- 

 sible after cutting. When clover hay is well cured and 

 reasonably free from dust, it may be fed to horses with advan- 

 tage. 



Alfalfa is rapidly becoming a very popular plant in 

 America. In the irrigated sections of the West it has long 

 been a leading crop. In recent years, its cultivation has 

 been greatly extended, so that now it is grown with success 

 over much of the United States, north and south, and also 



Fig. 156. In a field of red clover in Indiana. Photograph by the author. 



in some parts of Canada. From two to five crops a year 

 may be harvested. At the New Jersey experiment station, 

 5 cuttings yielded 26J/2 tons of green forage, equivalent to 

 almost 6 tons of dry matter per acre. Alfalfa is a plant that 

 is rich in protein, and the dried hay is often compared with 

 wheat bran in composition and feeding value. The fact is, 

 alfalfa is so close to bran in protein and carbohydrate con- 

 tent that in some sections of the West it is ground and fed 

 in a meal-like form. Large quantities of special feed stuffs 

 are made of this alfalfa meal, and are sold in nearly all parts 



