THE FEEDS 349 



to do so. Alfalfa meal, fed in the mash, dues not take the 

 place of a succulent feed. At the same time, it must be re- 

 membered that kale, cabbage, lettuce, etc., if fed beyond 

 the amount necessary for hygienic or physiological purposes, 

 become an expensive form of nourishment." Besides having 

 a desirable effect on the digestive tract, it serves as an 

 appetizer, adds variety to the ration, and tends to give a good 

 color to the >'olk, owing, according to I'ahner and I\emi)ster,' 

 to the -xanthopliyl the green feeds contain. 



It now appears probable one of tlie reasons for its great 

 desirability in the rations of both growing stock and layers, 

 is that the green lea\es of ])lants are a sjjlenditl source of fat 

 soluble A which is deficient in the grains. 



During the spring and summer months, fowls that run at 

 large will find an abundance of succulence, and the problem 

 of its supply arises only during the winter. A supply of 

 succulence is distinctly a spring condition. 



Alfalfa {Green). — It is frequently claimed by commercial 

 egg men that green feed, and particularly alfalfa, is responsible 

 for an undesiraljle condition in eggs which appears in the 

 spring, known as "green whites," or "grass eggs." \V. P. 

 Wheeler^ states that, while the orange-yellow color of the 

 yolk varied in intensity in direct proportion to the amount of 

 clover hay and green alfalfa in the ration, the greenish 

 color of the white also varied, but not so regularly. 



At the Kansas Experiment Station, RIaurer and Harris 

 kept six Barred Plymouth Rock hens in an alfalfa field for 

 several weeks. Tiie eggs from half the hens were subjected 

 to careful cjualitative bacterial analysis. Although infection 

 was frequent, no pigment-producing organisms could be 

 isolated. Alternate eggs from the rest of the hens were kept 

 for four weeks at room temperature and blood temperature 

 respectively. They were then broken into a white porcelain 

 dish and carefully examined for greenish discoloration. No 

 grass eggs were found. Until further data on the subject is 

 accumulated, no statement on the point is possible.^ 



^ .Tournal of Birilii^ical < 'ln-iiiisti>', \"ol. xxxix, Nc -. 

 ^ Jordan's Feeding of Animals. 



' A pigment-formini; onianisin lias recently fteen isolated from green 

 wliites by the Bureau of Clieniistry. 



