T02 FORAGE CROPS. 



They may feed iipon it through all the growing sea- 

 son if supplied with water. They will grow nicely 

 on it without other food, but a little grain, as corn, 

 for instance, can frequently be fed to advantage. 

 Swine pastures should be mowed occasionally to 

 secure a plentiful supply of tender and succu- 

 lent alfalfa. 



If cattl« and sheep are pastured on alfalfa when 

 it is in a succulent condition, and more especially 

 when wet with dew or rain, the alfalfa is liable to 

 produce hoven or bloat, unless the animals have 

 partaken of other food before being allowed to graze 

 on the alfalfa. Sometimes they may be pastured for 

 a whole season without harm ; at other times the loss 

 is serious. But when the alfalfa is growing amid 

 other grasses, the danger from this source is much 

 lessened. 



Observations. — i. Alfalfa may be sown with 

 much propriety in permanent pastures when the con- 

 ditions will admit of it. Its continuity in them will 

 depend upon such conditions as the nature of the 

 soil, the encroaching character of the other grasses, 

 and the closeness of the pasturing. 



2. One acre of alfalfa will furnish pasture to 

 from ten to twenty hogs through the entire season 

 of growth, dependent, of course, upon the age of the 

 hogs and the conditions relating to growth m 

 the pasture. 



