FIFTY-FIRST ANNUAL CONVENTION 143 



maintain a cow weighing 1,000 pounds and enable her to 

 produce 25 pounds of 4 per cent milk, a daily ration of 35 

 pounds of corn silage, 12 pounds of alfalfa hay, and 5% 

 pounds of corn meal must be fed. This ration contains 15 

 pounds of carbohydrates and fat, 2 pounds of protein, and 

 .22 pound of minerals. The corn (silage and meal) pro- 

 vides % of the carbohydrates and fat, but only % of the 

 protein and 14 of the minerals. The alfalfa supplements 

 the corn exactly because, while it provides only 1/3 of the 

 carbohydrates and fat, it does provide the necessary % of 

 the protein and % of the minerals. 



The protein forms only a small part of the ration, 

 about 13 per cent, but it is absolutely essential in making 

 milk. The big bulk of carbohydrates cannot make up for 

 any lack of protein. If the protein is 1/3 short, a third of all 

 the carbohydrates and fat is wasted and there is a much 

 greater reduction in the milk. A good cow cannot eat 

 enough clover hay to supply the protein, but the 12 pounds 

 of alfalfa supply it perfectly. The minerals form only a 

 small per cent of the ration, but the cow cannot thrive and 

 produce milk without them. 



Alfalfa hay (or its equivalent in sweet clover pasture 

 during the summer) is the only farm crop that, when fed 

 with corn as above, can supply the protein and minerals for 

 maintaining the cow and making milk as indicated here, and 

 the higher the production the more necessary the protein 

 and minerals in the right proportion. Alfalfa also has the 

 other exact qualities required; it is appetizing and palat- 

 able. 



For all these reasons, together with its great yield and 

 economy of production, alfalfa is the premier companion 

 crop for corn in economic, profitable dairy production. And 

 the right quantity of alfalfa is produced on an acreage 

 nearly equal to that of the corn. 



It must not be inferred that one can f sed poor alfalfa 

 hay with corn and get such results. There is absolutely no 

 question that alfalfa cured in the swath oi* in any manner 

 where the leaves are largely lost, cuts dow.a the production 

 of high-producing cows unless high priced ( oncentrates rich 

 in protein are fed. 



