The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-11-07

Returns In MiIk From Equal Areas of
 the Different Fornxe Plants.
 Equal areas of the following forage crops were fed in . green condition to dairy cows in addition to a grain ra- tion consisting of about five pounds of corn meal per day. two pounds of wheat bran and one pound of cotton seed meal. This experiment was conducted at the Pennsylvania Experiment Sta ton and the crops compared were: (i.l A mixture of clover and timothy; CD Flat peas. a perennial plant close. ly related to vetch; ts.) Canada field peas and oats sowu together; (4.) Rape; (5.) Soy beans; (6.) Sorghum, in twenty inch drills: CD Sorghum and cowpeas sown together; (s.) Cowpeas; and ninth corn. The per cent. of ni- trogen in the green food was greatest iii the case of fiat peas. 3.23 per cent. The cows were allowed all the green food they would eat It was found that one acre of each crop. in addition to daily ration of about nine pounds of grain would support herd of ten cows for the number of days set oppo- site each crop.
 Hape.... .ssssssS s...S1 days Flat peas... .s...s ..36 days sorghum ....SS days Sorghum and cowpeas ...... 34 days Carada peas and oats .... ....27 days Ccwpeas ........ e. .. 21 days Soy beans. .... s.....17 days Corn ...s .s....16 days Clover and Timothy ... .....16 days
 All the cows gained in weight when erceivtng sorghum or sorghum and COW ress. All the cows gained in milk when receiving cowpeas, but dropped on, as compared with previous feeding, when fed rape, sorghum. sorghum and cow peas. and corn J. F. D. <
 Alfalfa Hay as . Feed fer Hogs. ..At the Nebraska Experiment station . recent test was made comparing a retion of corn alone with rations con. tazning chopped alfalfa hay, ground ai- falfa, wheat bran. and sborts. Corn was fed to all lots. constituting either one-haf. thres-fourths. or the whole of the ration. Tn feeding pigs the amount of feod required to produce one pound of increase in live weight was as fol- lows:
 s-< corn and 1.4 shorts ....... .4.e6 lbs. S-4 corn and i-z chopped alfalfa ATT" s-A corn and 1-4 ground alfalfa 4.s1 S-s corn and 1-4 wheat bran .. s.se l" l-3 corn and Ia shorts .... ....5.4s" 1-2 corn and 1-2 chopped alfalfa 5.44 l-2 corn and l-2 ground alfalfa b.ss "
 Alfalfa hay either chopped into one- half inch lengths. or ground, was prac- tically equal to an equal weight of shorts. when combined as above with corn. and was superior to wheat bran. Al food tSf pregnant sows a ration of one-halr corn and one-haf ground al- faifa was highly satisfactory. This food tn the case of young sows caused daily in crease in weight of nearly one pound. Mature pregnant sows were satisfactorily fed on a ration of two pounds of corn and six pounds of cut alfalfa per day. After farrowing their food consisted of one half corn and one-half alfalfa.
 Alfalfa hay can be fed to hogs with out cutting. but it. should never consti- tute the entire ration. J. F. D.
 Feeding Cattle of Different Ages.
 The Kansas Experiment Station has recently issued billetin giving the results of feeding a number of calves, yearlings, two ~year olds, and three year olds of the beef breeds. The ex- pertinent was partly to test the rela- tive profits in feeding cattle of differ ent ages and partly to compare corn silage with alfalfa and with Kaffir corn stover, the latter material prob- ably standing Intermediate in nutri- tive value between a poor grade of sorghum and corn stover. So far as these foods are concerned, the best re- suits were obtained by the use of si- lage fed in connection with alfalfa and mixture of corn and Kaftir corn grain. This ration proved decidedly superior to one exactly similar except in the omission of silage, the silage fed cattle not only gaining in weight more rapidly but selling at a price one- quagter cent higher than those fed on the corresponding non-silage ration. The quality of the silage fed cattle A Aaf nf al confirm previous ones. especially those of the Tennessee~ Experiment Station, In indicating the silage is one of the most satisfactory feeds for feeding steers, and that there is no basis for the prejudice that silage fed cattle must necessarily dress out more poor ly and be of poorer quality. like grass Ted cattle. than when no succulent food Is given.
 Examining the financial results, we have the following data: Corn was valued at fifty-eight cents ger hundred pounds, Kafir corn. was rated at fifty cents per hundred pounds, cotton seed meal at $25.o0 per ton. g ,alfa hay at t6.6o per ton, Kaflr forage at $2.50 per ton, and silage at $1.00 per ton. In spite of the To v price of feed stuffs, l the profits were not satisfactory, un- less account be taken of manure The calves brought profit of about forty cents per head. the three year oIds a { profit of nine cents per head, while the | other five lots were fed at loss. The unfavorable financial results were un- douhtedly due to two causes, the too | long period of feeding (2l0 days) and | to the fact that there was not sufi- | cient margin between the buying and | the selling price, this margin being from one-twentieth to three quarters of a cent per pound live weight. It | is generally understood that there must be margin of one cent per l pound or more.
 The silage had a value of s329 per ton. In these comparisons 9.2 tons of | corn silage was about equal to one ton of aifalfa hay J.. D.
 Agriculture for the Public Schools. Editor Southern Cultivator.
 Permit a few words on the above sub- ject from one who Is interested in 1t from the standpoint of a teacher. That was great step forward, the legisla- ture took in including the teaching of agriculture in our common school cur riculum. Perhaps no other subject in- troduced in recent years has in 1t SO great possibilities of usefulness to all our people, both urban and rural.
 But the simple incorporation of this -
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