10 FARMERS' BULLETIN 820. 



When the animal is not distressed and the swelling of the flank is 

 not great, or when the most distressing condition has been removed 

 by the use of the trocar, it is best to administer internal medicine. 

 Two ounces of aromatic spirits of ammonia should be given every 

 half hour in a quart of cold water, or half an ounce of chlorid of 

 lime may be dissolved in a pint of tepid water and the dose repeated 

 every half hour until the bloating has subsided. 1 



For acute bloating the Kentucky Agricultural Experiment Sta- 

 tion recommends 1 quart of a 1^ per cent solution of formalin, fol- 

 lowed by placing a wooden block in the animal's mouth and by gentle 

 exercise if the animal can be gotten up. 



Sheep. Gas may be removed quickly from bloated sheep by using 

 a small trocar. The seat of the operation is on the most prominent 

 portion of the left flank. 



SWEET-CLOVER HAY. 



When sweet-clover hay is cut at the right time and cured properly 

 it is eaten readily by all classes of live stock. As the hay is rich in 

 protein, growing stock make' gains on it comparable to the gains of 

 those fed on alfalfa. The quantity and quality of the milk produced 

 when the hay is fed to cows are approximately the same as when other 

 legumes are used. Hay which is cut the first year is fine stemmed 

 and leafy and resembles alfalfa in general appearance. Unless it 

 is cut at the proper time the second year, it will be stemmy and un- 

 palatable. Feeding experiments show that it contains practically 

 as much digestible protein as alfalfa and more than red clover, but 

 the hay is not as palatable as red clover or alfalfa when the plants 

 are permitted to become coarse and woody. When SAveet clover is 

 seeded in the spring without a nurse crop in the northern and 

 western sections of the United States, a cutting of hay may be ob- 

 tained the same autumn. When it is seeded with a nurse crop in 

 these regions, the rainfall during the late summer and early fall will 

 largely determine whether the plants will make sufficient growth to 

 be cut for hay. On fertile, well-limed soils in the East, in the eastern 

 North-Central States, in Iowa, and in eastern Kansas a cutting of 

 hay is commonly obtained after grain harvest when the rainfall is 

 normal or above normal. In many sections of the country two, and 

 at times three, cuttings of hay may be obtained the second year 

 (fig. 3). 



In the South two, and sometimes three, cuttings may be obtained 

 the first year if the seeding is done without a nurse crop. When the 

 seed is sown in the spring with oats, two cuttings may be secured 



1 See " Diseases of Cattle," a special report of the Bureau of Animal Industry. 



