The Twin Falls times. [volume] (Twin Falls, Idaho) 1905-1916, 1912-01-30

the more careful farmer does not lose
so high percentage OF the foliage,
because he does his cutting before the
alfalfa has reached so advanced a
stage or overmaturity; but in most
cases he makes a considerable sacri
flee because of delayed cutting.
Next comes the waste in feeding
This is greatest under the practice of
scattering forkfuls of it over the feed
ing pen. Doctor Sudduth estimates
that this wastes fully fifty per cent of
the tonnage handled. Second to this
i'll wastefulness is the method of stack
feeding SO commonly practiced in the
west, where the stock is allowed to
run to the stack, pull ont the alfalfa
and trample it under foot. He esti-
mates that this method never loses the
farmer less than twenty-five per cent
of his tonnage and in most cases the
loss is nearer fifty per cent. This
means, according to his figures, that
| openfield feeding gives the farmer
about dollar a ton in actual food
value for the most nourishing forage
crop on earth.
THAT is not putting it too strong"
| he declares; 'and that is the way most
1 alfalfa is fed today. Even the more
careful farmers who feed in racks suf-
| fer at least a loss of twenty-five per
cent of the tonnage. There is an old
saying that you can force horse to
eat shavings-but the horse will die!
In rack-feeding you can force youl
stock to eat a considerable portion Of
the straw instead of pulling it out ano
scattering it on the ground-but the
forcing will result in skinny buncf
of stock. When chemical analyses
demonstrated to me the amount o
! nutriment-the high percentage of di
gestible protein-in the stalks am
, stems of alfalfa, | realized as | hat
| not before the awful and crimina
j waste of this wonderful stock food go
ing on all over the west That, 0
} course, directed my investigation to
; ward getting the straw and stems o
! alfalfa into balanced ration tina
/, stock would eat as eagerly as they d.
. the alfalfa foliage, and that woul'
7 render the waste of a pound to tn
l ton unnecessary and inexcusable.
| "Inevitably this led on to the grind
1 ing Of the alfalfa into a fine meal-no
the so-called alfalfa meal of commerce
that might more properly be called al
t falfa chop. Thus far | have attempte
'
/ investigation along the line of cattle
a feeding, my work having been mainl
: confined to working out balanced ra
1 ton for swine; but it does not need
: laboratory test to establish the fac
/: that alfalfa-feeding is just as import
r ant an element in the production c
S milk and of beef as it is in the Pre-
duction of pork
s Beets As Il Side!ine.
d The growing and use of sugar beet
r is an important sideline in the produt
S tion of pork on the Broadvew Rancl
S After they are we'll started they ar
: crossharrowed with lever harrows a
/ quick and effective means of dom
g the necessary thinning. They are Gu
:, tivated with a two-row cultivator.
) The beets that are not harvested
e the hogs themselves are put into VIII
e may be called q furrow-silo. This
y one of the most curious processes {
re the Broadview Ranch. The harvester
" is done with a beet-puller. After eigl
= rows are pulled the beets from the tv
70 center rows are placed with the roo
20 together and the tops out, with Il
Sc other beets thrown upon them In t