SOILING AND PASTURE. 829 
comparison was in favor of the alfalfa, taking into 
account the ease with which it was grown and har- 
vested and the improvement to the soil that follows 
its use. 
The whole bulletin is well worth study, but I re- 
produce only the general observations: 
These feeding trials here reported, though many of them for 
periods necessarily rather short, were repeated for several sea- 
sons and are the average results from a number of different 
cows, so that the indications which they all give of the value 
of alfalfa can hardly be considered accidental. 
The average of all the analyses made of the fourteen lots of 
alfalfa used in these feeding trials will give an idea of the gen- 
eral composition of alfalfa forage. The average composition of 
three lots of mature corn forage might be considered beside that 
of the alfalfa for comparison as follows: 
Alfalfa forage. |Corn forage. 
Per cent of MOISTUTE.. .........- cc cece c eee n teens ceeeeeene 75.10 80 
é -20 
Per cent of a8h ....... 2.28 1 
Per cent of protein...... 4.48 2.2% 
Per cent of true albumin: 3.53 1.97 
Per cent of crude fiber....... 6.59 5.17 
Per cent of nitrogen-free extract 10.26 18.46 
Per CNb OL LAtBi icv csinee Saco chads deeds Cameean samara 1.29 1.10 
In determining the cost of milk, for purpose of comparison, 
for each period reported in the preceding tables, the cost of the 
food only was considered. The manurial values of the foods 
were not taken into account, although under favorable condi- 
tions the net cost to the farm of milk would be much influ- 
enced by the fertilizing values of the foods. The manurial 
values of rations containing alfalfa and of those containing 
highly nitrogenous grain foods would be much greater than of 
most rations, but except where especial attention is given to 
careful handling of manure, only a small proportion of the 
possible amount would be recovered. 
When alfalfa forage was substituted for some other food or 
the amount of alfalfa in the ration increased, there followed, in 
ten instances a decrease in the cost of the milk, in two in- 
stances a very slight increase in cost, and in two instances the 
cost of milk was practically the same. There was an increase 
