78 LUCERNE CULTURE 



the leaves scattered and lost, and a ton of carefully dried leaves- 

 contains as much protein as 2,800 Ibs. of wheat bran. The leaves 

 make up almost one-half the weight of the whole plant, A heavy 

 rain will wash away from one-third to one-half the protein in. 

 lucerne. 



Direction cannot be given for making lucerne hay, because the 

 weather, thickness of stand, and other conditions vary so much,, 

 but cut and handle so as to cure with as little handling and expo- 

 sure as possible. 



Our experiments show that fattening hogs need about one ton 

 of well-cured lucerne hay w r ith each 250 bushels of grain. Stock 

 hogs should be fed two or three times this amount- 

 Early cutting produces the best quality for hogs, and also for 

 cattle and sheep. In recent digestion experiments with lucerne 

 the chemical department of this station found the following differ- 

 ences : 



Total Digestible 



Lucerne. Protein Protein 



per cent. per cent. 



Cut when 10 per cent, of stalks 



were in bloom ... ... 18.5 14.5 



Cut when half the stalks were 



in bloom 17.2 12.9 



Cut when in full bloom ... 14.4 11.4 



The digestible part is all that produces gain. Wheat bran 

 contains 12.3 per cent, of digestible protein, and these trials show 

 that the earlier cutting was worth one-fifth more, ton for ton, than 

 bran. 



Both fattening and stock hogs should be fed regularly twice 

 a day through the winter with all the choice, early cut, carefully 

 cured lucerne hay they will eat. ; This quality of hay is just as- 

 valuable for steers, cows and young stock aa it is for hogs, but it is . 

 often impossible to save all the crop in good condition, and as only 

 a small quantity is needed for hogs, we urge lucerne growers to 

 take unusual pains to secure enough for their hogs that is cut at 

 just the right time and perfectly cured. 



Enriching the Land. 



The Colorado Agricultural Experiment Station, in an instruc- 

 tive pamphlet, points out that the excellent results observed to 

 follow putting land down to lucerne for three or more years, leads 

 to the conclusion that it enriches the soil. In a certain sense this 

 is the case. The practice of seeding run-down land to lucerne, 

 and leaving it in lucerne for several years before breaking it up 

 again to plant other crops, has been the salvation of a great part of 

 Colorado, and yet it does not follow that the lucerne plant does not 



