884 ALFALFA FARMING IN AMERICA. 
half alfalfa and cane gained 92 pounds each. The amount of 
hay consumed or wasted about the racks daily per steer ranged 
from 18.7 pounds in the prairie-hay lot to 24 pounds in the 
cane iot, 20.2 pounds being eaten daily per head by the steers 
receiving alfalfa alone. From the fact that the half-and-half 
ration gave equally good gains with straight alfalfa, it would 
seem to be economy to use some of these cheaper roughages with 
alfalfa for wintering steers. 
While no accurate data have been kept, it has been the com- 
mon practice to winter the breeding cows of the pure-bred herd 
of the Kansas experiment station upon alfalfa hay and corn- 
stover, the alfalfa being fed in racks and the stover fed out on 
the pasture as much as possible. This method of feeding has 
kept the cows in splendid breeding condition, and the use of the 
stover has resulted in cheapening the cost of their maintenance 
from that of straight alfalfa feeding. 
Results at Woodland.—On Woodland Farm the 
best and cheapest beef ever produced was from 
young cattle given all the alfalfa hay they would 
eat up clean, corn silage and a small ration of ear 
corn. 
Meeting Competition —In Argentina where alfalfa 
growing is assuming large proportions it is becom- 
ing a common thing to finish cattle with alfalfa hay 
and corn maize. Better beef is thus produced and 
a better price secured for it. Argentina, that young 
giant of the Southland, is our most formidable com- 
petitor in the business of furnishing England with 
bread and meat. The use of corn and alfalfa there, 
although already assuming large proportions, is yet 
in its infancy. We in America must awaken to our 
possibilities. We can grow alfalfa. We can grow it 
in practically every county in the United States, cer- 
tainly with greater ease in some places than in 
others, yet almost any of us can grow it. We grow 
