306 THE BOOK OF ALFALFA 



per acre with five tons of hay per acre each year, it has 

 cost about $1.55 per ton to raise alfalfa. We estimate $1 

 per ton for cutting and stacking, and 60 cents per acre 

 for water tax. It costs $2.25 per ton for baling, 100 to 

 125-pound bale, the size having no effect as to the keep- 

 ing of properly cured hay. From 8 to 10 bushels is a 

 fair average seed yield, the cost of threshing and clean- 

 ing being about 40 cents per bushel. Baled hay is worth 

 (free on board) about $6.50, and loose, about $4 per ton ; 

 seed sells for about 7 cents per pound. Alfalfa hay is 

 preferable to timothy or clover, ton for ton, for feeding 

 without grain ; with grain, our liverymen prefer timothy. 

 We find alfalfa with grain equal to timothy for draft 

 horses, but for drivers, timothy is preferred. Alfalfa is 

 considered better than clover by our hog raisers; 

 it makes good pasturage for horses, and is better 

 than Red clover for cattle. If cattle are kept con- 

 tinually on the alfalfa, they are not very likely to bloat; 

 the trouble arises from turning hungry animals on it. 

 We use a gag, made of a stick about three inches in diam- 

 eter, to force the mouth open, but sometimes have to 

 make an opening in the paunch with a knife. Irrigation 

 seems to improve the quantity without increasing the 

 quality. The early cut hay has at least 20 per cent more 

 value than the straw from the seed crop; we have had 

 very good results from feeding the straw, as it always 

 contains more or less seed. Alfalfa sown on clay soil, 

 with hardpan subsoil, gradually dies out after two or 

 three years; also when water is near the surface; when 

 the roots reach water too near by, the plant dies. Sown 

 on good sandy loam, it reaches its best yield about the 



