222 FORAGE CROPS 
stand and method of treatment. It ranges from 
ten to twenty-six tons per acre green forage for all 
cuttings, or an equivalent in dry hay of two to six 
or more tons. The larger yield is readily obtained 
on good lands. 
Alfalfa is a gross feeder, particularly on the 
mineral elements, and a large producer, and is 
sometimes considered as an exhausting crop. This 
is a mistaken idea; it should rather be looked on 
as acrop fulfilling the proper aim of rational agri- 
culture, which is most perfectly to transform into 
products the raw materials at disposal in atmos- 
phere and soil. 
The chemical composition of alfalfa 
The following table shows the composition of 
five different cuttings from established fields at the 
New Jersey Experiment Station farm, as well as 
the composition of the hay when ready to put in 
the barn to be fed. These analyses, which are 
representative, show the variations in the compo- 
sition of the different cuttings in the green state, all 
samples representing the crop cut when first blos- 
soms appeared or just before blossoming, as well 
as the changes that were caused by handling, curing 
and storing. The composition of the different cuts 
will vary with the time of cutting and character of 
season. The crude fiber increases with maturity: 
