320 THE BOOK OF ALFALFA 



than they do as to the right time of cutting alfalfa and 

 clover and the right way of curing it. Too many farm- 

 ers look only at the labor involved. They want to do it 

 quick. Hence they wait before cutting till the stalks are 

 overripe so they will dry quickly and then they use hay 

 loaders that will take up the hay in the swath overdried 

 and the goodness evaporated out of it by the action of the 

 sun. All this time they are never giving a moment's 

 thought to the great question : "What kind of food is this 

 going to make for my cows next winter?" The best of 

 study and care should be given to this matter of curing 

 alfalfa and clover. Nicely cured clover is worth half as 

 much as bran as a milk producing food, and alfalfa is 

 worth fully as much. We have demonstrated in our own 

 stables that with 35 pounds of corn ensilage and 10 

 pounds of nice alfalfa hay a day, we can save half of the 

 grain ration that would be necessary if we fed other hay. 



8. As a renewer and renovator of fertility we know 

 of nothing that will equal alfalfa. The present year is 

 proving that in Wisconsin most convincingly. Nearly 

 all of the old alfalfa, as well as clover seeding, was killed 

 by an ice storm in March. That compelled the farmers 

 to plow up these old fields and plant them to corn, pota- 

 toes or some sowed crop. The greater growth of crops 

 on these old alfalfa fields is universally noticed. The 

 farmers of the country have not half begun to know the 

 wonderful value of the alfalfa plant. For just this rea- 

 son they should not be discouraged in trying to grow it. 



Dr. A. S. Alexander, W^isconsin experiment station. — 

 After all that has been written and said in favor of the 

 more general cultivation of alfalfa, it seems strange to 



