406 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA. 



hogs on old blue grass pastures in winter or early 

 spring. Alfalfa is in no sense like blue grass. Keep 

 the hogs carefully shut out of it until it is at least a 

 foot high in spring. 



Do not leave the hogs in pasture late in the fall, 

 either, especially if you live east of the Missouri 

 Eiver. To pasture alfalfa late in the fall in all the 

 eastern country will very greatly damage it if not 

 destroy it. And never, on any account, let the hogs 

 step foot on it in winter time. 



Alfalfa not a Balanced Food. Again, much dis- 

 appointment comes from use of alfalfa in the wrong 

 way. Hogs will not make much gain on alfalfa 

 pasture alone. They will gain about one-half a 

 pound a day or less with only alfalfa and water. 

 With >a little corn every day in addition to the al- 

 falfa hay they will gain two pounds or even two and 

 one-half pounds daily. Nearly all the corn "sticks 

 to the ribs" when hogs are fed on alfalfa pasture. 



It is unreasonable to expect hogs to fatten on al- 

 falfa pasture alone, or even to expect them to make 

 all their growth on alfalfa pasture. Alfalfa is ex- 

 ceedingly rich in protein, but is deficient in fat and 

 carbohydrates. Why can not the hogs make up on 

 grass what the alfalfa lacks? Well, 'because a hog 

 has too small a stomach, is not a ruminant, does not 

 chew its cud. It wants a part of its ration in some 

 condensed form. The alfalfa gives health and vigor 

 and makes growth, but it needs the aid of corn. 

 There is no other grain so good for feeding with 



