IMPOETANCE OF LIVE STOCK 209 



and one of the two plants that is worth more to 

 our agricultural economy than any grain, grass or 

 forage plant grown upon the American farm. 

 Valuable because it can be made to grow luxuri- 

 antly upon nine-tenths of our soils, producing in 

 almost any portion of our country three bumper 

 crops of hay, and in many places four or five crops 

 each season, and for a long period of years, its 

 feeding value equal, pound for pound, to bran 

 (the richest in food value of any stock food 

 known), and not equaled by any forage plant 

 known to agriculture. Besides it is a plant that 

 has concealed in its juices the health giving elixir 

 for the animal that eats it. 



Alfalfa pastured by, or fed as hay to hogs, to- 

 gether with a ration of corn, constitutes the cheap- 

 est and most perfectly balanced ration, and the 

 ideal winter ration for brood sows. 



It possesses another characteristic that seems 

 to have been overlooked by alfalfa writers, and 

 that is the easy and cheap manner in which it can 

 be prepared and made ready for feeding. No 

 necessity to resort to the expense and labor of 

 putting it in silos, or chopping it up and mixing 

 with other feeds. If the alfalfa field is well es- 

 tablished turn the stock into it in the summer 

 time and pasture it judiciously, which means not 

 to over pasture, and clip with mower the same as 

 if cut for hay. The hay can be at any season of 

 the year thrown into the manger and feeding racks 

 to horses, cattle, sheep, hogs, and it will be eaten 

 with relish, and to the great profit of the farmer. 



Within the lifetime of the author, and in the 

 region where he has resided, there sprang up in 



