LEGUMES FOR FORAGE 183 



for this roughage, the allowance should be restricted, lest they overeat. 

 Fed in proper amount, alfalfa hay has given satisfaction as the only 

 roughage, even for horses at rapid work. Alfalfa hay can be largely 

 used in maintaining breeding sv*^ine in winter, and even for fattening 

 pigs a limited amount may aid in producing cheap gains. 



Pasturing alfalfa. — Alfalfa is not primarily a pasture plant, for, 

 particularly in humid regions, grazing is apt to injure the stand. 

 Moreover, cattle, and especially sheep, run risk from bloat when on 

 alfalfa pasture. Nevertheless, it furnishes such nutritious feed that 

 it is grazed on many farms even in the humid eastern states. To 

 avoid serious injury to the stand, the fields should not be pastured 

 until the stand has become well established, and animals should be 

 kept off when the ground is soft, muddy, or frozen. Heavy stocking 

 of the pasture is decidedly injurious, especially with horses and sheep, 

 which gnaw the plants to the ground. Except where the winters are 

 mild, alfalfa should be allowed to grow to a height of 6 to 12 inches 

 in the fall for winter protection. 



Alfalfa pasture is excellent for horses and pigs, which are not sub- 

 ject to bloat. For colts and young horses the succulent alfalfa, rich 

 in protein and mineral matter, is especially helpful. On thousands of 

 farms it is the foundation of cheap pork production. The danger to 

 cattle and sheep from bloat varies greatly with climate and other fac- 

 tors. Tho there is always some risk, in such districts as the hot irri- 

 gated sections of the Southwest but little loss is experienced. Where 

 cattle or sheep are grazed on alfalfa the following precautions should 

 be taken : ^ 



For permanent pasture sow with alfalfa, bluegrass, brome grass or some 

 other grass adapted to your particular conditions. Use upland in preference to 

 lowland for pastiu'e, and have a constant supply of water for the stock. Frosted 

 alfalfa is especiallj' dangerous, but in the late fall after the crop has dried it may 

 be grazed again. Before turning animals on alfalfa for the first time, allow 

 them to fill up on grass pasture, Avith grain in addition if they have been ac- 

 customed to it. Then in the middle of the forenoon, when they do not care to 

 graze longer, turn them on the alfalfa. Tlio some advise allowing the stock 

 to graze only a few minutes the first day and gradually increasing the length 

 of time on the following days, it is probably safer to keep them on the pasture 

 continuously, for they will then never consume undue amounts at one time. 

 Watch the stock closely for the first few days and remove permanently those 

 animals which show symptoms of bloat, for individuals differ in their suscepti- 

 bility to the trouble. A method used in the San Joaquin valley, California, 

 when starting cattle on alfalfa pasture is to cut part of a field and turn the cattle 

 on this portion after the alfalfa is half dry. Then after they are well filled they 

 are allowed to eat whatever of the green crop they wish. 



1 Partly adapted from Coburn, The Book of Alfalfa, pp. 109-119; and Wing, 

 Alfalfa Farming in America, pp. 338-344. 



