THE FEEDS 351 



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 yolk, owing, according to Langworthy,' to the 

 iron the green feeds contain. 



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 undesirable condition in eggs which appears in the 

 spring, known as "green whites," or "grass eggs." W. 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, Maurer and Harris 

 kept six Barred Plymouth Rock hens in an alfalfa field for 

 several weeks. The eggs from half the hens were subjected 

 to careful qualitative 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 statemeht on the point is possible.' 



Alfalfa and clover are generally considered to furnish the 

 very finest pasturage for fowls. Cut alfalfa hay that is 

 cured green furnishes an excellent temporary substitute for 

 succulence when steamed. 



Beets {Mangel Wurtzels). — ^Mangel wurtzel beets are among 

 the most convenient forms of succulence for winter feeding, 



' United States Farmers' Bulletin No. 128 

 ' Jordan's Feeding of Animals. 



'A pigment-forming] organism has recently been isolated from green 

 whites by the Bureau of Chemistry. 



