Leguminous Plants for Green Forage and Say. 



205 



green forage per acre. The alfalfa was cut three times, yielding 

 4,600 pounds of hay at the first cutting, 3,350 pounds the second, 

 and 3,250 pounds at the third cutting, or a total of 5.6 tons of hay 

 per acre. The total digestible nutrients of the two crops are pre- 

 sented in the following table: 



Comparative yield of corn forage and alfalfa hay — Colorado Station. 



It will be seen that the alfalfa yielded nearly twice as many 

 pounds of dry matter as the corn, with the digestible nutrients f;ir 

 in the lead. The protein of the alfalfa was three times that of the 

 com. 



302. Nutrients in the alfaffa crop. — At the Utah Station,* 

 Widtsoe made a study of the nutrients of the alfalfa crop, and 

 some of the facts gathered are presented in the following table: 



Nutrients per acre in three cuttings of alfalfa — Utah Station. 

 First Cutting. 



Condition of growth. 



Pro- 

 tein. 



Nitrogen- 

 free ex- 

 tract. 



Crude 

 fiber. 



Ether 

 extract. 



Ash. 



May 4. 



Height, 6J inches 



June 1. 



Height, 18 inches 



July 7. 



Full flower 



Aug. 10. 



Flowers fallen, leaves dry 

 Aug. 24. 



Stm drier 



1 Bui. 48. 



Lbs. 

 474 

 697 

 745 

 644 

 428 



Lbs. 



607 

 1,247 

 2,278 

 2,298 

 1,776 



Lbs. 



168 



618 



2,108 



2,531 



2,544 



Lbs. 



40 

 103 

 118 

 116 



94 



Lbs. 



167 

 369 

 461 

 423 

 311 



