[11] Analyses compiled by the Bureau of Chemistry.
[12] Experiments conducted by the Wyoming Agricultural Experiment Station.
[13] The nutritive ratio is the ratio which exists between the digestible crude protein and the combined digestible carbohydrates and fat.
[Table IV] shows that the percentage composition of both green and cured sweet clover compares favorably with that of alfalfa and red clover.
Perhaps the most interesting point shown in this table is that the fiber content of white sweet clover, whether green or cured into hay, is no greater than that of alfalfa. It is understood, however, that the plants collected for these analyses were taken when they were at the proper stage for curing into hay. [Table IV] also shows that the digestible nutrients of sweet clover when fed to sheep compare favorably with alfalfa. It was stated that the sweet-clover hay used for this experiment was stemmy and that it had not been cut until it had become woody. The pea hay had passed the best stage for cutting when it was harvested, while the alfalfa hay was in excellent condition.
In a feeding experiment with sheep conducted by two students at the Iowa State College it was found that the protein digested in sweet-clover feed alone was 69 per cent and that the addition of corn to the hay ration increased the digestibility of sweet clover to 82 per cent. Alfalfa and red clover showed similar increases of the digestibility of the protein content when corn was added to the ration. The percentage of digestibility figured for the protein in the corn was the average of a number of digestion experiments. The probability is that the digestibility of the corn was also increased by the presence of the hay in the ration, so that not all the increase in the digestibility should be credited to the hay constituents of the different rations.
FEEDING EXPERIMENTS WITH SWEET CLOVER.
Few agricultural experiment stations have carried on definite feeding experiments to determine the value of sweet clover compared with other feeds.
The South Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station reported an experiment in which lambs were fed on sweet-clover hay in comparison with alfalfa, pea-vine, and prairie hay. In this experiment the lambs made a better gain at a less cost when fed sweet-clover hay than when fed pea-vine hay, but not as large a gain as when fed alfalfa hay. The results of this experiment are shown in [Table V].
Table V.—Feeding experiment with lambs in South Dakota, showing the comparative value of different kinds of hay as roughage.