14 
ALFALFA—ITS GROWTH, DIGESTIBILITY, ETC. 
Two steers were selected. No. 1 was a seven-eighths 
Shorthorn, and was 30 months old, and weighed 1,050 
pounds. No. 2 was one-half Devon, and was 23 months 
old, and weighed 1,075 pounds. The animals were 
healthy and in good condition; they were fed two weeks 
on the alfalfa before the experiment was begun, the object 
being to clear the digestive canal of previous food. Dur¬ 
ing the experiment they were kept in stalls in the base¬ 
ment of the barn, and were taken out once a day to be 
weighed; thev were watered and fed alfalfa three times a 
day, eight pounds at each feed. One day the feed of alfalfa 
was increased to nine pounds, but, as the animals showed 
signs of bloating, it was reduced to eight pounds. The 
dung and urine for twenty-four hours were weighed at 
noon each day, also the steers before they were watered 
or fed. A harness was provided for the animals, to which 
rubber bags were attached to collect the dung and urine ; 
the animals were watched day and night to see that all 
the excrements were saved as soon as voided, and placed 
in suitable vessels to receive them. An accident occurred 
with No. 1, causing two days’ results to be rejected. 
The refuse hay was carefully collected after each feed, 
and each day’s refuse kept by itself. The dung, urine, 
refuse hay and water were weighed to a half ounce; the 
animals to a pound. One-tenth part of all the dung and 
urine was saved in large salt-mouth, glass-stoppered bot¬ 
tles that were air tight; one-tenth part of this was care¬ 
fully sampled and analyzed, by the method before de¬ 
scribed for alfalfa. Kjeldahl’s method was used for the 
urine, in the manner recommended by the nitrogen com¬ 
mittee, Bulletin No. 19, for the determination of nitrogen; 
a comparison was also made by the Knop Hufner method. 
The following table of ingesta and excreta by days, 
shows the general course of the experiment, with daily 
results: 
