4S AtPAtFA 



Dry alfalfa hay is in the midst of summer about as 

 palatable to the dairy cow as the finest Kentucky blue- 

 grass. The ideal way to feed alfalfa is as hay. This 

 saves the labor of handling the excessive quantities of 

 water present in green plants. Fed dry, the danger 

 from bloat is avoided, and the quality of the feeding 

 constituents is not reduced by the dryness in the least. 

 The only way that alfalfa hay is liable to deteriorate in 

 value is through poor handling or exposure to bad 

 weather. If fifty per cent, of the leaves are lost in the 

 handling, as is frequent, the remainder of the hay will 

 be composed of a large percentage of indigestible 

 vegetable fiber. Molding or heating destroys some of 

 the most valuable nutrients. Properly housed and cured 

 alfalfa does not deteriorate with age. It possesses 

 largely the succulent qualities of green grass in June, 

 keeping the digestive organs open and adlive; it has a 

 cooling effedl upon the blood, and cannot be surpassed 

 as a feed for cows during .calving time. Fed to dairy 

 cows, alfalfa maintains the flow of milk equal to June 

 grass for nearly the whole year. It can be chopped as 

 fine as wheat bran and mixed with corn-meal to form 

 a balanced ration. Such a mixture is worth more, 

 pound for pound, than the original corn-meal. Where 

 alfalfa grows to perf edtion is a . cow paradise, and 

 such a land is certain to " flow with milk and honey," 

 if man does his part toward such a consummation. 



In computing the value of alfalfa hay as a feedstuff 

 for the balanced rations, 10.6 pounds is taken to repre- 

 sent the digestible protein in one hundred pounds, as 

 given in Henry's "Feeds and Feeding." The diges- 

 tion experiments at the Kansas Experiment Station 

 show the average digestible protein of prime alfalfa 



