144 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION 



Alfalfa Fully Earns Distinctive Title. 



In all these details and in the varied practical experi- 

 ence of six years in this Milk Per Acre test, alfalfa fairly 

 earns its title as the one and only full companion crop for 

 corn in dairy farming. Not only in theory and in technical 

 analysis of its content but in the yield, economy, actual re- 

 sults, and plain common sense of the case, alfalfa is the 

 finest, fittingest, and most complete companion crop to corn. 

 We have had untold loss in milk production and v^aste of 

 the corn fed because v^e did not provide the alfalfa, or we 

 have simply given av^ay twice the cost of raising alfalfa in 

 buying its protein equivalent in commercial feeds. Is it not 

 time that we justly recognize this companion crop and wel- 

 come it to equal rank and acreage with corn for the cows? 



Timothy As a Feed. 



One after another the different factors of the Milk Per 

 Acre demonstration at the University of Illinois have been 

 dwelt upon in tracing cause to effect. But there is another 

 angle from which to view it, another measure to take of it, 

 before it is possible to see how the change from one kind of 

 hay crop to another in the field, from one hay to another in 

 the ration, can make such a difference in production. The 

 result seems out of all proportion to the cause and unbe- 

 lievable unless we trace it through the mill in making milk. 

 Plenty of alfalfa was grown and fed in this demonstration 

 and but little or no alfalfa, but little or no legumes of any 

 kind, are grown on thousands of dairy farms. 



The 1,200-pound cows in this demonstration were fed 

 an average ration of about 38 pounds silage, 15 pounds 

 alfalfa hay, and 1 pound corn meal for the six years. But 

 it seems best here to talk of a ration that fits the average- 

 sized cow. The above daily feed is practically equivalent 

 to 35 pounds of corn silage, 12 pounds of alfalfa hay, 3' 

 pounds of corn meal, and 2 pounds of ground oats, which is 

 the requirement for a cow weighing 1,000 pounds and pro- 

 ducing 25 pounds of 4 per cent milk or 8,250 pounds per 

 year. 



