Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1913-08-06
ALFALFA IN IOWA.
What Raising of Alfalfa Will Do
For Iowa Farmers Told by III.
Nj. Cottrell, Agricultural
Commissioner.


them gain as many pounds as viii
40 to so bushels of corn and tn
hogs gather the alfalfa themselves
Eight pounds of leafy, greencur
ed alfalfa hay fed with each bushe
of corn given fattening hogs will
increase the daily gains one-thirt
to one-half and the alfalfa hay will
put finish on the hogs that will
add to their selling value. The best
results are secured by feeding one
ton of leafy alfalfa hay with each
250 bushels of corn. A ton of hay
fed in this way will produce $50 to
700 pounds increase in gain on hogs
over the same amount of corn fed
alone. The hay helps the hogs digest
greater proportion of the corn
which they eat.
Alfalfa, either green or as hay,
furnishes pregnant sows the protein
and mineral matter necessary for
WAY DSS1 uS'Ciopilcul VI Tue uuUOTu
pigs. 1t is mild laxative and keeps
the digestion good and the body, skin
and hair in thrifty condition. AL
falfa forces sucking sows to give
a large yield of milk, making heavy
vigorous pigs at weaving time and
less pigs die during the sucking
period
Alfalfa pasture in Iowa reduces
by one-half the cost of feeding pigs
from weaving time to the time of
fattening. Growing shoats on alfal-
ia pasture need two pounds of corn
a day for each 100 pounds live
weight. Besides the gains that
the corn alone will make, each acre
of alfalfa pasture will, during the
summer, add 500 to 1000 pounds
to the weight of the pigs. The al
falfa pasture develops, in the grow
ing pigs, size, frame, flesh, vigor and
a large capacity for feed.
The alfalfa pig, when fattened,
has keen appetite, can digest and
assimilate large quantity of grain,
making large gains quickly and has
the frame to carry the gains. Prof.
r. j. Kinzer, formerly of the Iowa
Agricultural College, found that in
feeding alfalfa hay in limited guam
titles with corn to fattening pigs,
that 100 pounds of hay saved SO
pounds of corn.
Iowa has normally from eight to
nine million hogs. To raise them
most cheaply, will require one and
a half million acres of alfalfa pas
ture. The latest report of the
State Board of Agriculture shows a
total of 30,323 acres of alfalfa for
the state, nearly sufficient to pas
ture the hogs reported in Pottawat-
TAME county alone.
The Iowa farmer is by nature
and training feeder of beef cattle.
Cattle feeding has had a back set
in recent years. So much corn is
required when the usual hay and
fodder Is fed that there has been no
money in feeding. With the high
prices OF corn, the most money has
been made by selling it. Alfalfa
hay, corn silage and the feeding of
younger cattle will enable the feed
er to make gains with half the
grain he now uses. The alfalfa will
secure gains cheaper and more rap
idly. 1t will put on a finish that
will bring higher price for the fat
cattle when they are marketed.
Alfalfa hay and corn silage fed to
cows giving milk will produce full
yield of milk with one-third the
amount of grain needed when tim
Iothy and corn fodder are used. A
ton of alfalfa properly cured is
worth as dairy feed, as much as
a ton of bran and it can be raised
and put in the barn on an Iowa
farm at cost of So ton.
Iowa is one of the great horse
breeding states. Horses being fitted
for the market will make four
pounds of gain a day per head on
alfalfa pasture and a little grain.
Alfalfa is one of the best feeds for
mare in foal and while sucking
colt The growing young horse
needs alfalfa every day, summer and
winter. Its large mineral content
Is particularly valuable for the de-
velopment of frame and size.
Alfalfa is the foundation for
economical results in sheep husban-
dry. No other feed equals it for
cheapness and quality of outcome
with breeding, growing and fatten-
ing sheep.
Four ont of ten farms in Iowa
are operated by tenants. The yields
on these rented lands are beginning
to drop Exclusive grain farming
has exhausted the stores of fertility
left in the soil by years of live stock
farming W Alfalfa will ractnra tbic