“Like other hays alfalfa varies in composition according to the time of cutting, the soil on which it grows, and its per cent of leaves. It has been found that three-fourths of a pound of alfalfa hay is equal in feeding value to a pound of clover hay of equal brightness and quality. A good stand of clover yields about 21⁄2 tons per acre per year, while a good stand of alfalfa yields about 5 tons per acre per year. Hence, on an acre of land, 1100 pounds of protein can be produced by raising alfalfa while only 340 pounds can be produced by growing clover, the protein in the alfalfa and that in the clover being equally digestible. This comparison is chosen from the fact that clover is the next cheaper source of protein found on the farm.
“At the Kansas station the following experiment was conducted, and illustrates the low cost of a ration including alfalfa hay for roughness as compared with a ration in which prairie hay was used. The experiment was with ten cows. The first ration consisted of 21 pounds of alfalfa hay and 9 pounds of corn. While the cows were on this ration each produced an average 26 pounds of milk per day, the milk containing 3.9 per cent of butterfat. To formulate a ration from prairie hay and bran which had the same amount of nutrients, we were obliged to feed 19 pounds of bran and 15 of hay. Fed on this each cow produced only 24 pounds of milk per day, containing 4 per cent of butterfat. The 21 pounds of alfalfa hay at $7 per ton, which is rather a high estimate, and 9 pounds of corn at 70 cents per hundred weight cost 13.6 cents per day. At this rate it cost 31⁄3 cents to produce a gallon of milk, or approximately 13.5 cents for a pound of butterfat. Estimating bran at $16 per ton and prairie hay at $5 per ton, the cost of the second ration was 18.95 cents per day, and milk approximately 7 cents per gallon, making the butterfat worth 19.7 cents per pound.
“The following two tables show the difference in cost between a ration in which alfalfa is used for part of the roughness and one which contains no alfalfa but has the same amount of digestible nutrients:
| Alfalfa hay | 19 | lbs at | $ 7.00 | per ton | $.066 |
| Corn | 7 | lbs at | .70 | per cwt | .049 |
| Bran | 21⁄2 | lbs at | 18.00 | per ton | .0225 |
| $.1375 | |||||
| Sorghum hay | 10 | lbs at | $ 3.50 | per ton | $.0175 |
| Prairie hay | 12 | lbs at | 6.00 | per ton | .036 |
| Ground wheat | 8 | lbs at | .80 | per bu | .1066 |
| Cottonseed meal | 3 | lbs at | 24.00 | per ton | .036 |
| $.1961 | |||||
“As shown by the table a gain of 5.86 cents is made by feeding the alfalfa. Being a proteinaceous feed it can to a great extent be substituted for cottonseed meal, linseed meal or gluten meal, and will entirely substitute other leguminous hays and forages, such as soy bean hay, cowpea hay, clover hay and vetch hay, any one of which is more expensive, for nutrients contained, than alfalfa hay.
“The Kansas station has found it practicable, from results obtained in the past three years, to ensile green alfalfa for dairy cows. This is superior to dry alfalfa, owing to its succulent nature. In the eastern part of the United States ensiling alfalfa has another advantage in that all cuttings can be harvested in perfect condition. As a rule the first cutting throughout this whole territory is liable to be damaged more or less by rains. By putting the green alfalfa into a well constructed silo this loss can be obviated and the full value retained. For example: a man has 40 acres of alfalfa, from which he harvests for the first crop 11⁄2 tons per acre. Estimating the price of good, clean alfalfa hay at $7 a ton, this would be worth $420. Should the hay be damaged by rain its value would be greatly reduced and, as has been the case for many years, such damaged hay could be purchased for $2 or less per ton. Accordingly this damaged hay would be worth $120. The loss caused by rain would therefore be $300. Put into the silo this first cutting would be equal in value to the best bright hay.
“The cost of a 100-ton silo is $250, hence the owner could not only save the first cutting, but money besides. Furthermore, it is not infrequently the case that alfalfa of the first cutting is of a stemmy nature, and it has been estimated that fully 28 per cent of such hay is wasted when fed to cows, as they do not eat the coarse stems. This loss can be entirely eliminated by the siloing, for cows will readily eat the stems as silage.
“The value of alfalfa silage in influencing the milk flow was indicated when a ration was fed to sixteen cows, in which 12 pounds of alfalfa hay, 20 pounds of corn silage, 5 pounds of bran and 4 pounds of corn meal were used; this ration was afterward changed by substituting alfalfa silage for the corn silage, and at the same time the bran was reduced to 1 pound, and the corn increased 1 pound. By these changes the milk was increased 10 per cent.
“With butterfat worth 23 cents a pound the value of a ton of alfalfa silage has been estimated at approximately $8. This silage solves the problem of feeding cows economically in summer, as well as in winter, under a system of intensive farming.”
W. J. Fraser, chief in dairy husbandry at the University of Illinois, says: “Corn silage and alfalfa, two of the best feeds for dairy cows, make practically a complete or balanced ration in themselves. Several years’ experience in supplying the university dairy herd with various kinds of soiling crops in midsummer has led to this high recommendation of corn silage and alfalfa.”