LUCERNE MEMS. 77 



The greatest activity in apiculture in this State is to be fcund 

 in the lucerne regions. In the lucerne-growing portions of the 

 State the average yield per hive in 1898 exceeded 60 Ibs., while in 

 portions of the State where lucerne was not a prominent factor in 

 honey production, the bees did well to procure a livelihood for 

 themselves, without furnishing a surplus for their owners. Some 

 hives situated in the lucerne region were able to yield that season 

 .a surplus of 200 Ibs. of comb honey. 



The conclusion of the three years' study, briefly stated, are, 

 that the highest returns from the lucerne meadow are to be secured 

 by an early spring cultivation of roots with the disc harrow and a 

 -summer visitation of the blossoms by the honey-bee. 



Lucerne for Pigs. 



A correspondent of the Texas Fanners' Advocate writes thus on 

 cutting lucerne for hogs : 



We want to again call the attention of Kansas farmers to the 

 profit to be made by specially preparing lucerne hay for hogs. In 

 bulletin No. 95 we give the results of our experiments with lucerne 

 hay for fattening hogs. These experiments showed that early cut 



. and carefully cured lucerne hay fed with grain gave a gain of 868 

 pounds of pork per ton of hay fed, and lucerne hay cut late and 

 poorly cured, with the loss of many leaves, gave a gain 'of 333 

 pounds of pork per ton of hay fed. The fattening hogs fed on 

 lucerne hay made rapid gains and had that slick, smooth hair and 

 thrifty appearance shown by amimal.s fed on oil meal. No other 

 feed has yet been tested that has secured such results at so low a 



cost as lucerne hay. 



The experiments show strongly the value of carefully curing 



.the hay. The early cut, well-cured hay produced 535 pounds more 

 pork pjr ton than the late cut and poorly cured. This dii!eience 

 will pay for all the additional labour needed to produce the best 

 quality of hay and then have a large profit. 



It is the protein in hay that produces the large gains, and the 

 lucerne should be so handled in curing as to secure the greatest 



. amount of this material. To do this the first care should be to save 

 the leaves. Geo. L. Clothier, in " Forage and Fodders " (quarterly 

 report of the Kansas State Board of Agriculture), has given a com- 

 pilation of many analyses of lucerne and shows lucerne leaves to 

 contain 22.6 per cent, protein and the stems 6.3 per cent. The hog 

 raiser wants to save all the leaves possible. 



A comparison will show the value of lucerne leaves. Gluton 

 meal contains 21 per cent, of protein, lucerne leaves 22.5 per cent., 



.and bran 16 per cent. It is not uncommon to go into a field where 

 .lucerne hay is being made and find- from one-third to one-half of 



