The Lamar register., 1899-03-08
ALFALFA HAY FOR HOGS.
Kansas Experimental Station on
Value of Alfalfa Hay In Fat
te0i0g Hogs.

Manhattan, Kansas, on the results of
their experiments in fattening hogs;
In the fall OF 1898 the Kansas ex.
pertinent station made an experiment
10 test the value OF alfalfa hay when
fed daily to fsttening hogs that were
being given all the grain they would
eat. The gain greatly exceeded our
expectations, and if further expert
ments show the same results, alfalfa
hay will form regular part of the
rations of every well fed pig fattened
in Kansas in the winter.
The hogs fed in this experiment
were bought of farmers aud averaged
in weight 125 lbs each. They were
placed in lots of ten each, in large
pens, having for shelter some sheds
open to the south. The alfalfa hay
used was of the best quality, carefully
cured. Black -hulled white ksffir corn
was the grain used, the hogs being
fed all that they would eat without
waste The hay was fed dry in fork
fuls in large fat trough. The pigs
were given more than they would Eat,
and they picked out the leaves and
finer stems, rejecting the coarser
stems One lot OF hogs Was fed
Kafir corn meal dry and alfalfa hay;
one lot whole Kaffir corn dry; one lot
Kafir corn meal dry, and one lot
Kaifir corn meal wet
The experiment began on Nov. q
and lasted nine weeks. BY that time
the alfalfa fed hogs became well fat
tened, and were marketed We esti-
mated that it would require four to
five weeks additional feeding with or
dinary winter weather, to get the
hogs that were fed grain alone into
good marketable condition. The re
cent continued extreme cold weather
will make the time required consid.
erabIy longer.
The gains in nine weeks from the
different methods of feeding were as
follows:
Kaifir corn meal dry and alfalfa hay 500
Kaiiir corn whole 59i
Kafir corn meal, fed dry ....-....-..52 52-4
haitir corn meal, fed vet 63-3
The gain from feeding alfalfa hay
with Kaffir corn meal fed dry, over
the meal alone fed dry, is more than
70 per cent. The gains per bushel
OF feed were as follows:
Kaffir corn meal dry and 7.s3fbs
alfaltalf hay ......... loss
kafiir corn whole e... $50
katiir corn meal, fed dr. - 7.4s
haihr corn meal. fed wet. 500
Ten hogs in nine weeks were fed
6J6 lbs OF alfalfa hay, and as shown
above, for each 793 lbs of alfalfa hay
fed with the dry Ksffir corn meal, the
hogs gained 3.4 lbs over those having
dry kaffir corn meal alone gain Of
S6S lbs OF pork per ton OF alfalfa hay.
These results are not due OF the feed
ing value of the alfalfa alone, but al
so its influence in aiding the hogs to
better digest the kafir corn. The
alfalfa hay also gave variety to the
ration, making it more appetizing
and inducing the hogs to eat more
grain. The ten hogs having grain
alone ate 1885 lbs of dry Kaffir corn
meal, while the ten hogs having hay
and grain ate 1879 lbs of Kafiir corn
meal and $50 lbs alfalfa hay. The
hay fed hogs ate more grain and
gained more for each bushel eaten.
In former experiment at this
college pigs were pastured through
the summer on alfalfa with a light
feeding of corn. After deductinp
the probable gam from the corn, the
gain per acre from the alfalfa pas
ture was 776 lbs of pork.
These facts indicate that TO pro.
duce pork more cheaply the Kansas
farmer must have alfalfa pasture in
summer and alfalfa hay in winter.
1t will only take a few minutes
study of the above results of scien-
tifc experiments to realize the vast
profits that can be made out of alfal-
ia, It's value and importance is be-
coming more thoroughly known each
year, and with it the Arkansas Valley,
where alfalfa attains its highest ex