6 47 



than the gain for lot receiving blue grass pasture, and six 

 pounds greater than the gain for the lot receiving clover 

 pasture. 



The adaptation of different varieties of alfalfa to various 

 conditions of South Dakota under the auspices of the United 

 States' Department of Agriculture is now in progress, and it 

 is hoped that as a result of the introduction into the North- 

 west of the hardiest alfalfas of the world, varieties will be. 

 found especially suitable to each set of soil and climatic con- 

 ditions. 



The upland prairie hay of the Northwest is widely known, 

 throughout the markets, for its highly nutritious qualities. 



During the winter of 1908 twenty grade lambs from eight 

 to ten months of age, raised on the college farm, were di- 

 vided into two lots and weighed up for the experiment. From 

 the tables of w r eights and gains it may be seen that there 

 were only three pounds difference in the aggregate weight 

 of the tw r o lots. The object was to determine the value of 

 these two hays with the same kind of grain ration for the 

 production of a pound of gain. The lots were given the 

 same number of pounds of grain daily and all the hay they 

 would eat up clean. The grain ration for each lot consisted 

 of a mixture of one hundred pounds of oats, one hundred 

 pounds of shelled corn and twenty-five pounds of linseed meal. 

 The lots were started on one pound per head of this mixture 

 per day and increased until they were receiving two and two- 

 tenths pounds of grain daily. 



For every pound of grain fed the lambs, the alfalfa lot 

 consumed one and three-tenths pounds of hay. For every 

 pound of grain fed the prairie hay lot, the lambs consumed 

 one pound of hay. In other feeding experiments with lambs 

 of this age at this Station about two pounds of grain per 

 head daily was an average allowance when on full feed. 



