The circle banner. [volume] (Circle, Mont.) 1914-1939, 1918-02-08

What are the outstanding things
about alfalfa, the characteristics
that make it so much sought after
by farmers?
1. There is its feed value, which
may be summed up in the five
word expression: 'it is rich in pro-
teins.'
2. There is its great productivity.
Alfalfa is the only plant grown out
side of the tropical or semi-tropical
that produces three big crops a year.
When a farmer can have protein
feed and great abundance in one
combination he has pretty nearly
truck feed bonanza" And yet that
is just what he has in alfalfa. Last
winter when dairymen and beef
producers were paying $40 ton
for. bran and as high as $50 a ton
for oilmeal-both protein feeds
many of them chopped off short on
this drain on their pocketbooks and
fed more alfalfa hay. They found
results, in gallons of milk and in
pounds of beef produced, came just
as rapidly
Protein is the principal ingredient
of muscle, tissues, blood, nerves,
parts of bones and of the internal
organs. 1t is the lean" of meat,
and hence it's Importance in the
makeup of meat animals-beef and
pork-is readily understood Pro-
tein is the thing that makes milk
and butter and cream so nourishing.
Without protein milk would lack
the greater part of that which makes
it almost a perfect food in itself.
How 1t Gets the Protein.
The protein itself, when sub
jected to little examination, proves
to be largely made up of nitrogen.
Nitrogen is part Of the air, and
millions of cubic feet Of it exist in
the free state on every farm. But
human beings and dairy cows and
steers and pigs would die for the
want of the protein-the nitrogen
that they all must have, If they
tried to assimilate that nitrogen
from the air.
Here is where what are known as
the leguminous plants-sometimes
called the clovers-come in. Those
bacteria we read about in a pre-
vious article inhabit the roots of
all the leguminous plants. And
they have the knack of grabbing off
this nitrogen from the air and of
passing it on up through the roots
and stems Of the plants. There,
with the aid of sunshine and water,
the plant builds the nitrogen into
leaves and more stems, and puts 1t
together in such a way as to appeal
to the taste and to agree with the |
digestive organs of the dairy cow, |
the beef steer and the thrifty pig. |
1t is no longer nitrogen, it is now
protein, and as such is appropriated |
for the particular protein wants OF
the respective animal which eats
it. OF all the plants which have
this quality of producing protein
from the free nitrogen of the air,
alfalfa is at once the heaviest pro-
Queer in bulk, it possesses the
largest percentage of protein con-
tent. That is the reason alfalfa Is
known as the Queen of all plants.
Alfalfa Pasture For Pigs.
The pig is given his alfalfa feed
in the simplest way, the primitive
way of the pasture. Sometimes even
in the spring. quite frequently dur
ing the summer and very generally
in the fall one will see herds of
pigs, in sections where alfalfa is
raised, grazing on the alfalfa. Pigs
gain rapidly on alfalfa pasture. The
reason they are not turned on 1t
earlier generally is that the farmer
cuts one or two crops before allow
ing the pigs to run on it. The pigs
do not hurt the plants, provided
they are taken off In time for the
alfalfa to acquire little growth for
winter protection.
Cattle and horses must be let
loose on alfalfa pasture only with
the utmost caution. Alfalfa is
liable to bloat these animals, es-
pecially when It Ii wet. 1t is some
times all right to turn stock onto
an alfalfa field for brief periods.
But the best way to feed 1T Is ~
hay.