SOILING AND PASTURE. 831 
can be used with alfalfa. The more highly nitrogenous grains 
and hays fed with corn silage or forage, however, have a much 
higher manurial value, which is often of wide importance. 
The palatability of alfalfa or of corn (maize) is greater than 
of most other forage plants of rapid growth that will yield heavy 
crops. This is a matter of the greatest importance. 
From my own experience I believe that there is 
hardly anywhere a farmer who could not use a small 
field of alfalfa profitably in summer as a soiling 
crop. There are always dry times when grasses 
fail and cows shrink in milk; there are pigs and 
lambs and horses, all of which relish green feed and 
particularly if it is the delicious alfalfa forage. 
It is an insurance against drought and an acre of 
good alfalfa cut and fed green to stock will give as 
much as ten or more of average pasture grasses. 
Alfalfa for Soiling Horses—In all Europe much 
reliance is placed on fresh-cut green feed for horses 
in summer time. Sometimes it is vetches and rye, 
sometimes grass, sometimes alfalfa. And alfalfa 
or lucerne is the most prized and best relished of all 
the forage plants cultivated over there for feeding 
green to horses. Horses fed a daily ration of green 
stuff keep in far healthier condition than when fed 
on dry hay throughout the summer. With green al- 
falfa available the grain ration may be considerably 
lessened. The alfalfa should not, however, be cut 
for horses till somewhat mature, at least at the stage 
when it would be cut for hay. Working horses may 
go to pasture at night in which case soiling is not 
so necessary. They may have the run of an alfalfa 
