226 FOBAGE CHOPS 



advantage of furnishing a practically continuous 

 supply of forage during the growing season. That 

 this may be accomplished, it is necessary that a 

 large part of the crop shall be cut either too early 

 or too late; therefore it is desirable to have other 

 forage crops if the very best results are to be 

 reached. Care should be exercised when using it 

 for soiling, particularly in the early cuttings, as 

 animals are very fond of it and are likely to eat 

 so much as to cause bloating. Animals have been 

 soiled, with success, at the New Jersey Experi- 

 ment Station for the past eight years, and no trouble 

 has been encountered, probably due to the fact that 

 the animals, previous to feeding on alfalfa, have 

 been supplied with other succulent forage, and the 

 quantities have been adjusted so that there should 

 not be an excess for any one animal. In the early 

 cuttings, from thirty-five to forty pounds per day 

 usually are fed, gradually increasing to fifty 

 pounds on the third day after beginning. After 

 once started in this way, there is no danger, and 

 only favorable results are likely to follow. 



Another peculiar advantage of the soiling for- 

 age is its richness in digestible protein; fifty 

 pounds of the green forage will furnish very nearly 

 two pounds of digestible protein. Therefore, the 

 feeds used with alfalfa should contain more car- 

 bohydrates than are usually fed with forage. A 

 mixture of feeds that would make a good ration 



