Choosing a Forage Crop 



161 



bulletin, that 5.6 pounds of com would have been re- 

 quired for each pound of gain made in the dry lot, the 

 acre of alfalfa would have a credit of 592 pounds of pork. 

 Assuming that the same pigs would have made a pound 

 of gain from 4§ pounds of corn, the credit due to an acre 

 of alfalfa would be 416 pounds of pork. 



Alfalfa versus sweet clover. 



Forage experiments conducted at the Iowa Station ^ 

 afford an opportunity of comparing alfalfa with second- 

 year sweet clover and a mixture of oats, Canadian field 

 peas, and rape. The pigs on the alfalfa and sweet clover 

 plots averaged at the beginning of the trial 18| pounds 

 and were started on forage May 19. The pigs on the 

 mixture were turned in June 13 and averaged 26 pounds. 

 All lots were fed ear-corn and a very small proportion 

 of meat-meal. Full grain rations were fed only during 

 the last 100 days of the experiment. The results of this 

 trial are shown in Table XL. 



Table XL. — Alfalfa versus Sweet Clover (Second Year) 

 VERSUS Mixture Canadian Field Peas, Oats, and Rape 



FORAGB 



Alfalfa 



Sweet clover (second 



year) 



Canadian field peas, oats, 



and rape 



Number 



PlQB FEB 

 ACBB 



17 

 20 

 24 



Length of 

 Test 



days 



180 

 150 

 160 



AvEBi.OE 



Gain peb 

 Pio 



lb. 

 1.04 



.53 

 1.15 



Concen- 

 trates 

 Eaten roR 

 Each 100 

 Lb. Gain 



a. 

 345 « 



376 » 



351 



' Eward and Kennedy, Bull. 136. 



' 3838 pounds of alfalfa cut from each acre. 



' 2384 pounds of sweet clover cut from each acre. 



M 



