AS A PASTURE PLANT. 845 
pounds of pork. One lot of fattening hogs was fed 
all the corn they would eat, another lot all the grain 
and dry alfalfa hay they would eat. The lot haw- 
ing alfalfa hay made a gain of 868 pounds of pork 
per ton of alfalfa hay.’’ 
Pasture for Horses—There is nothing else so 
good for horses as:alfalfa pasture. Working horses 
keep in good flesh and work well, with a trifle of 
grain added to their daily run on alfalfa; especially 
is it good for mares and their foals. The mares 
give a great abundance of milk when having alfalfa 
green and the colts make a growth and development 
that is surprising. When visiting the great ranches 
along the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys in 
Cadifornia,I was constantly astonishedatthe size and 
quality of Thoroughbred and standard-bred horses 
and colts running on alfalfa pasture in summer and 
wintering on alfalfa hay. There is such an abun- 
dance of flesh and bone-forming material in alfalfa 
that colts develop naturally and to their utmost 
when fed upon it. No ill results whatever have ever 
been observed by myself from depasturing alfalfa 
by horses, though I would not put them on it too 
early in spring nor when too hungry. 
As a Bee Pasture.—In California, Nevada, Utah 
and Colorado, alfalfa honey is a staple article of 
ecommerce. JI have seen some marvelous things in 
the way of alfalfa-fed bees. At Gov. John Sparks’ 
ranch, at Reno, Nev., the bees took possession of the 
space between the weatherboarding and the piaster 
