BREEDS OF SWINE 469 



more relished. It is eaten up cleaner, as the stems are not so woody. 

 Sometimes the hay is cut up fine, wet, and mixed with other feed, 

 and sometimes it is fed ground, as there are now alfalfa mills scat- 

 tered throughout the alfalfa regions. But it is very doubtful whether 

 this extra expense will pay, unless it be for a ration for young pigs. 



To avoid the expense of cutting or grinding, some farmers in 

 order to get the hay all eaten have soaked it in water and fed it. 

 This has proved very satisfactory where tried. One Oklahoma farmer 

 carried his hogs through a winter by feeding them alfalfa leaves 

 soaked in hot water for one day and the next day shorts mixed with 

 the pulp and water. He feeds much alfalfa hay to his hogs and is 

 very successful with them. He puts the last cutting in shock as soon 

 as wilted, and this cures it without bleaching and feeds it to his 

 hogs. (F. B. 331.) 



Alfalfa Play. Where a good quality of leafy alfalfa hay may 

 be had at reasonable cost, and other protein feeds are difficult to 

 obtain or are high in price, the alfalfa hay may be used to supple- 

 ment grain feed for fattening pigs. It should not be fed with the 

 grain, but should be put in specially constructed racks where the 

 pigs may go to it at pleasure. Mixed grains, with alfalfa hay will 

 give better results than a single grain with hay as a rule. (Colo. 

 B. 165.) 



The leaves only, are of value, the stems being too woody, and 

 the hogs should be fed a sufficient quantity so that they will get 

 all they want when they have eaten the leaves. For this reason it 

 does not pay to cut or grind alfalfa hay for hogs, as these methods 

 compel the hog to eat the indigestible stems. In a test made by the 

 writer, hogs fed whole alfalfa hay ate 515 pounds of grain for 

 each 100 pounds of gain, while those fed finely cut alfalfa hay re- 

 quired 538 pounds of grain for each 100 pounds of gain. 



Alfalfa for hay for hogs should be cut when the first few 

 blooms appear, cured with as little exposure to the sun as possible, 

 and handled in such a way as to preserve the leaves. In feeding 

 tests made by the writer with hogs fattened on grain and alfalfa 

 hay, a ton of early, green-cured alfalfa hay was equivalent to 868 

 pounds of grain, and a ton of alfalfa hay cut late was equivalent 

 to 333 pounds of grain. (Colo. B. 146.) 



A ration three-fourths corn and one-fourth alfalfa produces 

 greater gains than when one-half alfalfa is fed. Where alfalfa is 

 raised on the farm, and when there is no particular need to hasten 

 growth in the pigs, a ration one-half alfalfa hay and one-half corn 

 may give cheaper gains than when a heavier corn ration is fed. 

 (Neb. B. 20.) 



Alfalfa, the leading crop in New Mexico at the present time, 

 forms an excellent pig feed when combined with grain. Alfalfa fed 

 alone is a very poor food for fattening pigs. The lot of pigs which 

 received a ration composed of nearly equal parts of alfalfa hay and 

 corn, made greater gains and larger profits (Alfalfa hay at $7.00 

 per ton) than either the lot that received a ration composed of nearly 

 three parts of corn to one of alfalfa hay, or the lot that received a 



