The state herald., 1907-03-15
l. r A |. f A
s Effect on the Soil-As a For.
age for Horses.
BY HENRY MITCHELL.

~. Chairman. Ladies and Gentle
md of the Phillips County Farmers
Ins tute. The subject assigned me by
ydfr committee on programme is one
OF a. most talked of subjects, espeei-
all with the farmer west Of the Mis-
sos I Over, of any that know Of. The
Ia II B. with its talked of revision is in
sig -sieant us compared with it. The
mt mooted money question is rele-
ga Il to the background, when this one
su Hsct, Alfalfa, is brought up. 1t
mi!'it well be termed THE Mortgage
lit4 ~ the synonym Of prosperity. AL
fsS la, and will be more so in the fu-
tu 10 the western farmer, what corn
M b, on to the farmer Of the central
sfaes,. Scicntifie investigation has 80
far proven it to be one Of the best, II
not the best, and most profitable forage
plant that the farmer can grow. Not
only profitable because Of its richness
in digestable matter, its high ratio Of
bone, muscle and nerve food that it
contains, but because Of the fact that
the farmer. in raising alfalfa, builds up
his land. makes 1t richer in available
plant producing elements, instead Of
impoverishing il, us is the case in most
other forage and grain crops,
Experiments at the Kansas expert
ment station 30 to show that only one
other plant In the list Of forage crops
contains greater amount Of digestablc
matter than does alfalfa, and that is
millett. Air-dried alfalfa hay contains
10 i3 per cent Of protine. SO per cent
Of TAT, 2s.is per cent Of carbohydrates
and 1888 per cent Of crude hber, max
ing the total amount Of digestable nu-
trients 55.29 per cent: and that millet
contained 5L6 per cent. Il is also
stated. for sake Of comparison with
other feeds usually used for roughncss.
that oat hay contains 52.2, orchard
grass hay s3.2, timothy hay 4s. prairie
hay s5.7. sorghum hay 4i.2, red clover
hay i3.9 and corn fodder 35.s. One
would naturally conclude from the a.
boye comparison, that the feed contain
ing the most dlgostRhlo matter would
be the most profitable. But II must be
remembered that I, costs more 10 raise
a crop rich In protine, than Il doen one
In carbohydrates. and M alfalfa ranks
far ahead OF any Of the above named.
In pfo,inc. Il Is therefore far more val.
uhble ns feed. IL contains 80 pounds
ltss OF dgcs,able nutrients than millct
hay and almost two and onc-half times
a. much digostable protinc. Il Is there.
fore almost u perfect ration for all
growing animals. And here might
speak OF the great profit that comes
from having Il TO feed 10 poultry dur.
ing the long winter months when eggs
arr at their highest price. but will
leave that for Mrs. saylor. hut for
fear ,hn, abe will omit one thing, will
say tha, Il ia believed that the greater
part of the 10 called poultry foods tha,
We find In the markets and sec adycr.
tited 80 much In our agricultural. and
other papers, Ia nothing more nor less
than ground alfalfa. This being the
ease, ! can heartily recommend them,
but why pay such prices aa are charged
for them when I, can be raised 80 eaai.
y. and n, no great expense, right at
our doors.
Il has been truthfully said that OK,
pefence Ia our best teacher, but In a
great many cases the tuition comes n
little high. Such is the case with too
many farmers In the matter Of paHtur.
inp their alfalfa Hplda. n makpH nm