I08 THE BOOK OF ALFALFA 



it should not be pastured at all until it has become estab- 

 lished, has its crowns well spread, has abundant stems and 

 its roots have a strong start on their underground career. 

 Not an animal should be turned on an alfalfa field until 

 the second or third year if it is desired that the stand 

 endure for several years, nor should it be pastured too 

 early in the spring or too late in the fall. There should 

 be something of a growth left for winter protection. 

 Careful alfalfa raisers are known who pasture their older 

 fields, but never put on a full quota of stock until they 

 have cut over the field when the plants are first coming 

 into bloom. They insist that this cutting invigorates 

 and gives the plants new life. They then pasture quite 

 closely until some time in September, after which there is 

 time for some final growth for winter protection. 



A GOOB SWINK PASTURE. 



A chief exception that most farmers insist on is that it 

 is an excellent pasture for pigs and, if it is not stocked 

 too heavily, its use for grazing young swine will not 

 largely decrease the yield of hay. Its marked protein 

 property seems to give to the pigs a superior growth of 

 frame and flesh. Farmers claim that pigs a few weeks 

 old turned into an alfalfa field derive almost their entire 

 living from it and leave the sows two weeks earlier than 

 other pigs, coming out in September with a gain of from 

 loo to 125 pounds, while the field has yielded its three 

 cuttings of hay. Of course, if too many pigs are grazed, 

 the hay yield will be less. But even here the question of 

 labor versus hay must be considered. 



