The ranch. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1902-1914, 1904-06-01

raised for fodder, but there appears
to be an inclination to increase the
acreage in alfalfa each year. Alfalfa
yields more hay to the acre than any
other grass grown. In some sections
three or four crops are cut yearly, and
it has proved a highly nutritious feed
for stock 1t attains to a strong growth
and makes excellent pasture for hogs
horses and cattle. In fact, it has
often been claimed that alfalfa as q
fodder is as good as hay and grain
combined, and that stock fed upon ii
come out in the spring in better con
dition than when fed on hay alone.
1t is evidently worth while to expert
ment more generally with this crop
for, with the growth of the dairying
and hog industries, there will be an
ever increasing demand for feed that
is good and strong, yet cheap. Stall
fodder and pasturage are likely to be
important essentials in farm opera
lions, as stock raising is given more
attention in the Palouse and other sec
lions of our state, and it might be
profitable to make thorough study
of alfalfa with view to it's more ex-
tensive cultivation. For stock cattle
there is no better feed than alfalfa
hay. The minerals contained in it are
what the young animals need to build
the bones of their bodies. The protein
builds up their muscles, nerves and
tendons, giving vitality and strength
A steer grown on alfalfa, balanced
with other folders, will be more valu-
able to fatten than one fed entirely
upon the highly carbonaceous grains.
Calves will leave their grain to pick
up alfalfa stems and leaves left as
refuse in the managers of the COWS.
1t is claimed that the alfalfa plant
is, in money value, forty-fve per cent
better than clover and sixty per cent
the theory long held that alfalfa is
the greatest all-round forage plant
that the world has ever known.
To secure a good milk ration from
timothy hay protein must be supplied
from some other source, in order to
get a ration that will give sufficient
amount of that material without en-
failing a loss of carbohydrates and
fats. Glover hay is fairly good ra-
ton in itself, and it can be econom-
ically used without the addition OF
any other compounds; alfalfa hay, on
the other hand, requires the addition
of large amounts of both fat and car
bohydrates in order to be probably
utilized as a milk ration. This fact
renders alfalfa even more serviceable
than it's valuation would Indicate
since, in the management of farms
either for dairy purposes or for grain,
an excess of carbohydrates is secured
which in the great majority of cases
is wasted, either through lack of prop,
er material from other sources with
which to balance the ration or through
ignorance of the real loss incurred
In stating that alfalfa is unquestion-
ably one of the best feeds for dairy
COWS we do not lose sight of the fact
that it is happy combination of rich
ness and succulence. Alfalfa has two
paramount qualifications to make 1t
hold this position; low cost of pro-
duction in localities adapted to it, and
the superior quality of butter produced
while feeding it. Prime alfalfa hay is
very palatable, and being easily dl-
gested and of cooling and laxative
tendency, has an effect on the butter
fat similar to green pasture. With
it the June conditions, which are most
favorable to the production of the fin
est quality and largest quantity, can
more nearly be maintained and at less
cost than with any other single feed
When used the problem of the bal