138 SECOND THOUSAND QUESTIONS IN AGRICULTURE 



about fifteen cents an hour for distillate. Two men are needed to 

 operate the cutter, for which an expense of fifty cents an hour should 

 be added, making a total of sixty-five cents for cutting three-quarters 

 of a ton, or about ninety cents a ton. 



Chopped or Ground Alfalfa. 



For the rancher with 30 cows and 100 hogs, who can't afford to 

 buy both, which would be of greater benefit to him, an alfalfa cutter, 

 simply to cut up alfalfa for cows and hogs, or an alfalfa- mill to make 

 meal to feed cows and hogs? 



It would not be profitable to invest in machinery as expensive as 

 an alfalfa mill to make meal for so few a number of cattle and swine 

 unless you could run it as a custom mill, doing work for neighboring 

 ranchers. A feed cutter would be more profitable and the results of 

 feeding in this State do not seem to indicate any great improvement 

 in hay that is ground over that which has been run through a cutter 

 and stored in the barn. 



Siloing First Crop Alfalfa. 



Would you advise filling silo with the first cutting of alfalfa to 

 have feed during dry months, and filling later with ensilage corn to 

 feed in winter months? 



I believe thoroughly in the value of the silo for dairy and stock 

 farmers, in general, whether alfalfa, Indian corn or other silage crops 

 are available for silage making, and would advise filling the silo with 

 the first crop of alfalfa. This crop will make a satisfactory silage, 

 even if very weedy, so long as it is cut when the alfalfa is beginning 

 to bloom, before the foxtail ripens. If cut at a later stage many of 

 the hard foxtail heads will be likely to dry out before the silage is 

 eaten by the cows, and may cause trouble. In making alfalfa silage 

 the alfalfa must be run through a cutter and elevated into the silo 

 with the least possible delay after it is mown, so as to prevent drying 

 out, or if delays occur, sufficient water must be added in the blower 

 or the silo during filling to bring the water content up to normal for 

 alfalfa at blooming time. If oats and alfalfa can be well mixed in 

 filling the silo there is no objection to siloing them together; in fact, 

 alfalfa mixed with other green forage, whether weeds, cereal crops, 

 or even straw, often makes silage of a less pronounced flavor than 

 silage from pure alfalfa; doubtless because decomposition products 

 due to the fermentation of the protein compounds are less prominent 

 when the silage crops contain considerable carbohydrate materials 

 like those mentioned. If the alfalfa silage is fed out during summer, 

 the silo may be filled again in October or November with Indian corn, 

 sweet sorghum, or one of the grain sorghums, and a supply of a 

 valuable succulent feed thus secured for winter feeding. F. W. W. 



Figuring Cost of Alfalfa Silage. 



Would it pay me to buy cut alfalfa and haul it three miles to put in 

 a silo? How much could I pay per ton green if it should be worth 



