VoL. LX 
No. 2683. 
NEW YORK, JUNE 29, 1901. 
$1 PER YEAR 
ALFALFA AS A GRAIN FEED. 
HOW IT COMPARES WITH BRAN. 
Flint Corn Planted Late. 
LATE CORN.—The picture shown at Fig. 188 is taken 
from the last report of the New Jersey Experiment 
Station. It shows a crop of Thoroughbred flint corn 
grown as a late crop to provide green food or silage. 
This corn was planted on July 10 after a crop of oats 
and peas had been harvested. The oats and peas were 
seeded April 3, and cut early In July. The ground 
was then plowed and planted to corn, which made 
the growth indicated in the picture, and was cut from 
September 22 to 30. Crimson clover was sown in this 
corn, making a good growth, so that three crops were 
really produced. We refer to this in order to show 
how late-planted corn frequently makes a rapid 
growth during the latter part of Summer, and will 
produce a large amount of forage. We have planted 
this variety of corn as late as July 15 and had it ma¬ 
ture grain. This year, when the season is unusually 
late, we shall continue to plant up to July 1 for the 
regular crop. We frequently hear of northern farmers 
who plant corn 
quite late on the 
hill tops and 
rarely fail to se¬ 
cure a full crop 
for the silo. This 
year, when many 
farmers are sad- 
1y discouraged 
at the outlook, 
we would advise 
pianting corn 
late. The flint 
varieties will be 
most likely to 
mature grain, 
but even if they 
do not there will 
be a heavy yield 
of fodder suit¬ 
able either for 
silage or for dry 
feeding. 
ALFALFA VS. 
BRAN. — Two 
weeks ago we 
gave the flgures 
prepared by 
Prof. Voorhees 
to show how 
much’p r 0 t e 1 n 
maybe produced 
by an acre in 
Alfalfa. It will require seven tons of wheat bran or 
10 tons of oats to equal the value of one year’s output 
of such a “protein factory.” But is not that only one 
side of the matter? Sawdust contains a certain 
amount of protein, yet it will not take the place of 
wheat bran or oats in a ration for cow or horse. To 
what extent is the Alfalfa hay equal to grain? That 
is the question farmers want answered—not so much 
by the chemist as by the cow. In order to answer 
this Prof. Voorhees took four cows averaging about 
1,000 pounds live weight. Two different rations were 
made up as follows: Ration 1.—35 pounds silage, 11 
pounds Alfalfa hay, six pounds mixed hay, two 
pounds cotton-seed meal. Ration 2.—35 pounds silage, 
six pounds mixed hay, four pounds wheat bran, four 
pounds dried brewers’ grains, two pounds cotton-seed 
meal. The first ration cost 12.08 cents and the grain 
ration 15.38 cents. As will be seen the total protein 
was about the same in each—the 11 pounds Alfalfa 
iiay giving 1.46 pound, about the same as that in the 
eight pounds of wheat bran and dried brewers’ grains. 
Two cows were fed on the Alfalfa ration for 15 days 
while the others were being fed on the grain. Then 
they were reversed—that is, the two fed on grain were 
put on the Alfalfa. This was kept up for 60 days and 
the milk from the cows was accurately weighed and 
tested. The results show that during the whole period 
of 60 days the cows fed on bran and grains produced 
only 113 pounds more milk than those fed on Alfalfa 
hay. The milk produced from Alfalfa cost 58 cents 
per 100 pounds, while the cost of a pound of butter 
was 12 cents. With the grain ration the cost of 100 
pounds of milk was 70.7 cents and of a pound of but¬ 
ter 14.3 cents. From these practical results Prof. 
Voorhees concludes that when wheat bran and dried 
brewers’ grains can be bought for $17 per ton. Alfalfa 
hay is worth $11.16 for actual feeding. If the Alfalfa 
hay were ground up as fine as ordinary bran we be¬ 
lieve it would be worth practically as much for feed¬ 
ing purposes as the bran. Yet why should the Alfalfa 
be ground up? The cattle are fully competent to do 
this grinding. 
SILAGE AND ALFALFA.—In connection with this 
Aifalfa hay feeding I asked Prof. Lane why a ration 
composed of silage and Alfalfa, without grain, could 
not be fed. He said: “I see no objection to It, pro¬ 
vided too much of the hay is not fed at one time, in 
which case there would be a possible danger of bloat¬ 
ing. The following quantities of these two foods 
make a fairly well balanced ration: 35 pounds of corn 
silage and 18 pounds of Alfalfa hay. In feeding such 
a ration, I wouid divide the silage equally between 
the morning and evening feeds, and feed five pounds 
of hay morning and night, and eight pounds in the 
middle of the day. We expect to conduct more ex¬ 
periments along this line next Winter.” 
“What about feeding Alfalfa hay alone?” 
“While we have never fed such a ration, it is my 
opinion that it would not prove satisfactory. In the 
first place, it is not a balanced ration, the nutritive 
ratio being 1:38. In the second place, I do not be¬ 
lieve that such a ration fed continuously would be as 
healthful as one containing a larger proportion of 
carbohydrates. In the third place, it is my opinion 
that it would be more profitable to feed silage, roots 
or other foods of this character in connection with 
it, provided they were cheaper than the hay, which 
is usually the case in the East.” 
“We have heard that this is done in the West.” 
“In regard to Alfalfa hay in Colorado, this fact 
should be taken into consideration, that Alfalfa hay 
as it is usually fed in the West is an entirely different 
article from that represented by the sample we have 
shown you here. Those who have seen it handled in 
the Western States report that It is allowed to come 
nearly to maturity before cutting, hence a large pro¬ 
portion of the leaves is lost. When this is the case, 
one can readily see that a ration made up of Alfalfa 
hay of this quality might be a safe food, a healthy 
food and possibly approach a balanced ration. So you 
see the question hinges largely upon the quality and 
cheapness of the hay in considering its value as a 
ration. In some localities in the West, I have no 
doubt it is their cheapest food.” 
“How do you handle the hay?” 
“Our method was as follows: As soon as the dew 
was off in the morning, the Alfalfa was cut, and al¬ 
lowed to remain in the swath until the middle of the 
afternoon, when it was thoroughly wilted. It was 
then raked and piled In small cocks of medium size, 
care being taken 
to build them 
with as little 
slope as possible 
on the sides to 
secure a uni¬ 
form cure. Af¬ 
ter two days, it 
was found to be 
t h o r oughly 
cured, and was 
hauled to the 
barn, without 
any further 
handling, except 
that the cocks 
were turned bot¬ 
tom side up for 
an hour before 
hauling. Hay of 
good quality 
was secured 
which is In ex¬ 
cellent condition 
after storing. 
There was prac¬ 
tically no loss 
of leaves from 
this method of 
curing. Cattle 
prefer It to Tim¬ 
othy, Red-top, or 
oat and pea hay. 
The yield per acre from the one cutting was 2.21 
tons.” 
Farmers and others are beginning to realize the 
great possibilities of Aifalfa. There will be thou¬ 
sands of acres started during the next year. Some 
will sow the seed on ground not well adapted or well 
prepared, and of course will be disappointed. Others 
will sow it with no fair idea of what is to be done 
with the crop. We know of one man who has seeded 
several acres of orchard with oats and Alfalfa. Under 
all ordinary circumstances this crop should never go 
in an orchard. The man we speak of keeps but little 
stock, and has no clear idea as to what he will do 
with the crop. He has simply heard the great stories 
that are told about it. It is not likely that Alfalfa 
hay will sell readily at first sight in spite of its great 
value. The point of all this is that Alfalfa is a spe¬ 
cial crop of great promise. It is not a good crop to 
sell or to use as green manure, but where one has a 
fair outfit of stock and a field so situated that it can 
go into permanent meadow it will surely pay to ex¬ 
periment with Alfalfa. h. w. o. 
WHITE FLINT CORN, CUT SEPTEMBER 22—AFTER OATS AND PEAS. Fio. 188. 
