T H E IRRIGATION AGE. 



91 



hay for a time they become strong once more and ready 

 to make good use of corn. 



What has been said of the mare and of the ewe 

 applies as well to the beef cow. If she has a sufficiency 

 of alfalfa in winter she needs no grain at all. After 

 her calf comes she may have a little grain, and she and 

 the calf, all the alfalfa they care to take. Her calf should 

 be developed largely on alfalfa. It may eat alfalfa hay 

 every day of its life, may be soiled with alfalfa during 

 the growing season, may possibly be grazed on alfalfa 

 pasture; though by far the better way is to cut the alfalfa 

 and bring it to the calf. By this manner of feeding good 

 flesh is produced and stature assured. It is too common 

 among breeders of beef cattle in the corn belt to confine 

 their animals to rations composed mainly of corn and 

 grass, neither haying in them enough protein, thus there 

 is a steady loss in size, in "scale," the animals soon be- 

 come fat, undersized, "bunty" and "bunchy." The diffi- 

 culty is that you have been asking impossibilities of the 

 animal, asking.it to make bricks without straw, or to 

 build without bricks at all. 

 Therefore breeders of pedigreed 

 cattle find it necessary to have 

 frequent recourse to Canadian 

 and English herds to maintain 

 the character of their own. In 

 these other lands less corn and 

 more clover and other foods rich 

 in protein are fed than in our 

 own. There is blood in a tur- 

 nip. There is blood and form 

 and breeding in alfalfa, a plant 

 that gives character to what- 

 ever it becomes. Therefore, let 

 the breeder of beef cattle see 

 to it that alfalfa is one of his 

 chief reliances. 



Fattening cattle might be 

 thought to be an exception to 

 the rule heretofore insisted 

 upon ; they are desired to be fat- 

 tened as rapidly as possible, 

 why, therefore, need they be 

 fed any foods rich in protein? 

 Why not feed them in the old- 

 fashioned way with corn alone, 

 to quickly cover their ribs, and 

 then let them go forward to 

 market? 



The theory sounds well, but 

 does not work well in practice. 

 These animals find waste going 

 on in their own systems. Diges- 

 tive processes require muscular 

 action, and there is need to re- 

 pair muscular tissue. Nerve force 

 is to be maintained. Then, after 

 all, when these animals come to 



the feed lot they seldom have an adequate frame of lean tissue 

 on which to build the fat. Moreover, the modern trade 

 demands lean flesh intermixed with fat. not fat laid 

 on in masses. And, finally, digestion goes on better 

 when there is fed a variety of foods containing 

 both fat and muscle builders. So theory backs up 

 practice, and that tells always that steers fatten more 

 quickly, more cheaply, and better, when they have all the 

 alfalfa hay that they want in connection with their corn. 

 It is astonishing how much the cost of fattening these 

 cattle may be reduced if they are bought young and fed 

 plentifully on good alfalfa hay, and only moderately 

 with corn. And when this beef goes to the killer he 

 finds it by far the most profitable. There is no doubt of 

 the great place that alfalfa should fill in the cattle feeders' 

 business. The younger the cattle, the truer they are 

 "babies," and the better it pays to feed them alfalfa 

 hay. 



The problem of maintaining brood sows in complete 

 health in winter time is a serious one in the corn belt. 

 They are voracious arid must be fed. If fed sufficient 

 corn to satisfy them they become too fat and have weak 

 litters of pigs, or so unwieldy that they destroy their off- 

 spring through their very great clumsiness. If they are 

 deprived of sufficient corn to do this and given no other 



A GOOD INVESTMENT. 



If you are looking for a first-class invest- 

 ment along irrigation lines where $150,000 

 added to $75,000 already spent in development 

 work, canals, surveys, acquirement of rights, 

 etc., in one of the best irrigation states, will 

 bring a profit of about $500,000, it will be well 

 to communicate with the undersigned. 



This is one of the best projects that has 

 come under my recent notice and is backed 

 by reliable people. 



The finer details of the project upon which 

 results depend, have been more fully and care- 

 fully worked out than is generally the case. 



Colonization is well under way, 800 acres 

 having been disposed of within the past ten 

 days at a rate which, if adhered to, would ma- 

 terially increase the profits above mentioned. 



The balance of the work necessary to com- 

 plete the entire project can be finished during 

 the working season of 1912 without interfering 

 in any way with the work of colonization. 



I will furnish anyone interested engineers' 

 report, maps, statements from actual farmers 

 on adjoining tracts, exhaustive financial state- 

 ment and such other details as may be desired 

 by an intending investor. 



Address D. H. ANDERSON, Publisher, 



The IRRIGATION AGE, 



30 North Dearborn St., 



Chicago, 111. 



food, they do- not keep in health, since it is nature's way 

 to have the stomach and digestive tracts of the sow dis- 

 tended with bulky food. Therefore unless this is done 

 there is set up within her an unnatural craving that ends 

 in causing here to eat her pigs at farrowing time. Now 

 if she is fed a liberal allowance of alfalfa hay she finds 

 in it nearly all the nourishment that she needs, she rinds 

 her alimentary canal distended comfortably, she is satisfied 

 with same, and she brings into the world a fine litter of 

 pigs, and has milk for them. She has use of her natural 

 instincts and seldom destroys her pigs, either by accident 

 or intent. It is wise to allow her an ear or two of corn 

 each day in addition to what early cut alfalfa hay she 

 will consume. 



If it is summer time and she can have the run of the 

 alfalfa field she will thrive with very little grain in addi- 

 tion until the pigs come. After that time it will pay to 

 feed her a little more grain. The sucking pigs will soon 

 learn to nip the tender leaves and stems, and that will add 

 greatly to their thrift and growth. It pays largely, how- 

 ever, to feed corn in addition to 

 alfalfa pasture to shotes. It is 

 not necessary to feed so much 

 as when they do not have ac- 

 cess to alfalfa ; about half the 

 usual amount of grain will cause 

 a fine, thrifty growth. At the 

 close of their life period it is 

 well to give whatever amount 

 of corn they will eat up clean. 

 In this manner is made the 

 cheapest and best possible pork. 

 Fed in this way an acre of alfalfa 

 pastured with hogs has made a 

 clear profit in one year of as 

 much as $25.00. 



Corn is the best single grain 

 to be fed in connection with 

 alfalfa. Corn is rich in fat and 

 low in protein. Alfalfa is very 

 rich in protein and somewhat, 

 low in fat. These two should 

 not be separated where flesh is 

 desired. They most admirably 

 supplement each other. Either for 

 the fattening lamb, pig, calf, or 

 steer the ration of corn and 

 alfalfa is an ideal one, for they 

 very nearly balance each other, 

 and both can be produced on 

 the farm, and both are adapted 

 to . most parts of the United 

 States and much of Canada. 



After corn, however, come 

 barley and oats and wheat, 

 valuable to supplement alfalfa, 

 though of the three barley 

 is best, being richer in fat 



making elements. Very good lambs are made with alfalla 

 and barley, or alfalfa and wheat, or alfalfa and oats, or with 

 a mixture of them al) together. Yet when. corn is available 

 at nearly the same price it is very much to be preferred. 



The alfalfa field is a rich storehouse for the poultry 

 keeper. In summer time the fowls forage far and wide, 

 eating the tender alfalfa leaves, rich in protein, and find- 

 ing insects. In winter time fowls will consume great 

 amounts of alfalfa leaves and the fine stems. Sometimes 

 alfalfa is ground into meal for poultry and swine. This is 

 well, though when it is in large supply it is not necessary 

 to do this, as it is cheaper to waste a part of the stems 

 than to grind them into meal. Fowls given all the alfalfa 

 that they desire are more healthy and lay many more eggs 

 than without it. 



The amount of fertilizing material that will come from 

 an acre of first class alfalfa is equal to what would be 

 bought in the bag for $60.00. Now if the owner of a de- 

 pleted soil can get one small field established in alfalfa, 

 and will save the hay and feed it with care, saving all 

 of the manure and puting it out upon another tract, he 

 can thus enrich this sufficiently to make it grow alfalfa. 

 Now let him have the two fields producing alfalfa, and 

 using the hay again and saving the manure he is ready to 

 enrich the third field. And thus gradually he may extend 



