Soiling Crops. 159 



vorable, you should have a fine stand. Tons upon 

 tons are being cured for hay, and are being fed to 

 cattle and to other stock. 



" Food A^'alues : The value of any food depends 

 largely upon two substances present in varying 

 quantities. They are the proteins and the nitrogen 

 free extract. The former is a flesh or muscle pro- 

 ducer, while the latter is of the fat-producing order. 



" Objections : Not easily .established. Cannot be 

 pastured first 3'ear. 



"Advantages: When once established, does not 

 run out. Stands drought better than clover. 

 Grows rapidly, makes muscle rather than fat." 



Soiling vs. Pasturing. 



United States Report. 



" Alfalfa is one of the very best soiling crops. It 

 may be fed in this way to better advantage than if 

 the stock are pastured on the field. Cattle and 

 sheep cannot be safely pastured on alfalfa, particu- 

 larly when it is young and tender, or after there has 

 been a heavy dew or rain. The}' are always liable 

 to bloat if fed with green or wet alfalfa. Horses 

 and hogs are not affected in this way. The loss of 

 sheep and cattle from tympanitis, hoven, or bloat, 

 as it is called, is very great every year, and, though 

 a herd may go through an entire season without 

 loss, it is never perfectly safe to permit it to depas- 

 ture the alfalfa. By a proper arrangement of the 

 feeding pens and corrals alongside or near the field. 



