844 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA. 
80 pounds in June, and the ewes without grain have 
fattened while suckling their lambs. Lambs eating 
corn and suckling their mothers have never suffered 
from bloat in my experience. 
Grazing Pigs on Alfalfa—Alfalfa is the natural 
food for swine. The pregnant sow on alfalfa pas- 
ture generally needs no grain at all, at most but a 
trifle of corn should she be in a thin condition when 
turned to pasture. Pigs born from sows pasturing 
alfalfa are unusually fine and strong. After they 
come the sows need a little more grain than before 
and suckle profusely. The little pigs enjoy the 
sweet, tender herbage and thrive on it, but they too 
should have a daily allowance of grain. This is not 
absolutely necessary, as in Colorado, Western Kan- 
sas and Nebraska many hog ranches are found where 
no grain is produced or fed winter or summer, only 
alfalfa hay dry in winter and alfalfa pasture in sum- 
mer, but the pigs are often sold to farmers in the 
cornbelt to be fattened. It is economy to feed corn 
on alfalfa pasture. Alfalfa alone is too one-sided a 
ration; it is too rich in protein and too poor in starch 
and fat. It builds the pig long and lean unless corn 
is added, but the amount of corn should be very 
much less than is needed on other pasture. In Kan- 
sas the state agricultural college has found that 
‘‘at this station, pigs were pastured throughout the 
summer on alfalfa with a light feeding of corn. 
After deducting the probable gain from the corn, the 
gain per acre from the alfalfa pasture was 776 
