136 SOUTHERN PORK PRODUCTION 



or tweh-e inches before the hogs are turned hi. With 

 this plant grazing can be had from November to June. 



Chufa pasture. — This crop gives great promise for the 

 reason that the food is available for pasture at a season 

 when other feeds are scarce and the feed is of very high 

 value. It is a summer sedge that makes its growth in 

 summer, but provides tubers for winter grazing. It is 

 admirably adapted to sandy soils and does not do so well 

 on heavier soils, which in a way limits its use. Yields of 

 from 75 to 150 bushels per acre have been reported. It 

 is generally planted in May, 12 to 15 inches apart in 

 3-foot rows. The tubers are generally grazed off at any 

 time from October to April. Henry and Morrison' report 

 that as much as 600 pounds of pork can be made per 

 acre from this crop. These same authors state that 100 

 pounds of chufas will yield .4 pounds of digestible pro- 

 tein, 10.2 pounds digestible carbohydrates and 3.3 of 

 digestible fat, and will have a nutritive ratio of approxi- 

 mately 1 : 44. This suggests the use of this crop in con- 

 nection with such nitrogenous feeds as buttermilk and 

 skim milk, soy beans, bur clover and alfalfa pasture. 



Alfalfa pasture. — In the South this is both a perennial 

 winter and summer legume. It has been rather widely 

 grown on a limited scale and requires no detailed descrip- 

 tion. Twenty to 30 pounds of seed are generally 

 sown to the acre in September or October. As a pasture 

 crop it is available at all seasons of the year, but to a 

 much reduced extent in winter. Its feeding value is high 

 tor a succulent grazing crop, and the feeding value per 

 100 pounds will often run 3 pounds of digestible protein. 



' Feeds and Feeding, p. 245. 



