FEEDING ANIMALS 139 



$5.00 cured hay? Could I move it fast enough that distance? My silo 

 would be 10x20 or 24. How large a cutter should I use? Is a blower 

 necessary? I have a 5-horsepower engine. Is that enough power? 



It will not pay you when you will have to haul the green alfalfa 

 three miles, and cured hay is worth $5.00 per ton. It will take about 

 four tons of green alfalfa to make a ton of hay, so that at the price 

 given the green alfalfa would cost $1.25 per ton. You can probably 

 not make more than four trips or haul more than eight tons of alfalfa 

 a day, making the expense of hauling the alfalfa about 44 cents per 

 ton, with man and team worth $3.50 per day. This would leave only 

 about 80 cents that you could afford to pay for a ton of green alfalfa. 

 I do not believe that it will be worth while to make alfalfa silage 

 when alfalfa hay can be bought at $5.00 per ton, and would not at any 

 rate recommend the building of so small a silo as 10x20 or 24 feet 

 unless you buy a stave silo. It is hardly practicable to build a resaw 

 silo of smaller diameter than twelve feet, and thirty feet is none too 

 tall for a modern silo; thirty or forty feet would be better. A blower 

 is not necessary, but silos are now generally filled by this method 

 instead of by means of bucket carrier. A five horsepower engine 

 would furnish sufficient power for some makes of silage cutters, but 

 not for others. It is quite an advantage to have ample power in filling 

 silos, as it saves labor and enables the farmer to finish the job with 

 the least possible delay. F. W. W. 



Alfalfa Meal and Other Ground Feeds. 



What is the relative value of alfalfa meal, as compared with mid- 

 dlings, bran or rolled barley? Would it be better to scald or cook 

 the alfalfa meal, or feed it raw? What would you consider a balanced 

 ration of alfalfa meal mixed with other ground feed or grain and about 

 what amount should be fed for weight of hog? 



We have but little available information as to the chemical com- 

 position of the alfalfa meal sold in this State but there is no reason 

 to believe that it differs much from that of alfalfa hay. The grinding 

 of hay does not add anything to its feeding value but merely insures 

 that it is eaten without waste. If alfalfa meal is manufactured from a 

 choice quality of hay it will compare favorably with wheat bran, being 

 worth perhaps a couple of dollars less per ton; but there is alfalfa 

 meal on the market that would not be worth more than one-half this 

 price. During the last season we fed some alfalfa hay in our experi- 

 ments that contained 14 per cent of protein on the average and 25 

 per cent of fiber, while another lot averaged only 10 per cent protein 

 and over 29 per cent of fiber. Since wheat bran runs about 15 per 

 cent protein and 10 per cent fiber, it is evident that the nutritive 

 effect of even the best grade of alfalfa hay that we fed last winter 

 would not, if ground into meal, approach that of wheat bran. 



The relative value of the feeds given would also depend on the 

 roughage with which they are fed; since alfalfa is high in protein 

 (muscle-forming substances). Feeds relatively high in starchy 



