FEEDING VALUE OP ALFALFA HAY 45 



great majority of cases is wasted, either through lack 

 of proper material from other sources with which to 

 balance the ration or through ignorance of the real 

 loss incurred. Under ordinary conditions, 2^ pounds 

 of protein, four-tenths of a pound of fat, and I2j^' 

 pounds of carbohydrates can be profitably fed daily to 

 a milch cow of i ,000 pounds live weight. One ton of 

 alfalfa hay, containing 35.3 pounds of digestible fat, 

 280.1 pounds of digestible protein, and 770.7 pounds 

 of digestible carbohydrates, would furnish sufficient 

 protein for 112 days, fat for 88 days, and carbo- 

 hydrates for 61 days. 



' ' Therefore, in order to feed this amount of alfalfa 

 economically and profitably, fat sufficient for twenty- 

 four days and carbohydrates for fifty-one days must be 

 added from some other source. In securing these fats 

 and carbohydrates, it is impossible to avoid adding 

 protein to a slight extent, since all farm products that 

 are of any value for feeding purposes contain more or 

 less protein; this addition of protein, however, may 

 be, and should be, reduced to a minimum by selection 

 of those materials which contain it in the smallest 

 quantities. Among these may be mentioned field 

 cornstalks, green fodder corn, or ensilage, wheat straw, 

 oat straw, root crops, and so forth. One ton of field 

 cornstalks, containing seventeen pounds of fat, sixty 

 pounds of protein, and 1,076. 6 pounds of carbohydrates, 

 would furnish sufficient protein for twenty-four days, 

 fat for forty days, and carbohydrates for eighty-six 

 days. 



" Two tons of a mixture of equal weights of field 

 cornstalks and alfalfa would therefore furnish food 

 sufficient for 136 days without noticeable loss of any 



