CHAPTER XVIl. 



Alfalfa and Poultry 



BETTER THAN MEDICINE 



At first it might seem that too much was claimed for 

 alfalfa if written of as a specially valuable adjunct in 

 poultry raising. The poultry industry of the United 

 States is making wonderful advances, and the volume of 

 its returns is enormous ; the figures are well-nigh incred- 

 ible. One of the handicaps is disease. Poultry men are 

 a unit in saying that where alfalfa in any form can be 

 supplied to poultry disease is almost unknown. Fowls 

 like it green, and whether allowed the run of the field or 

 it is given to them daily they eat it greedily and thrive. 

 Many farmers say emphatically that the hens laj more 

 and larger eggs when allowed alfalfa in any form. Its 

 nitrogen contributes to the albumen of the eggs and to 

 the growth of the young chickens. 



MAY INFLUENCE EGG FERTILITY 



Scientific tests of feeding alfalfa to poultry have not 

 been made, but, no doubt, will be in the near future. If it 

 is found that the eggs are larger when the hens are given 

 alfalfa, it may also be found that the percentage of fertil- 

 ity is greater. For years the complaint has been made 

 by farmers and poultrymen that there are too many infer- 

 tile eggs. The financial losses are great if a fourth or 



