r soiling food may usually be made at
intervals of four to six weeks, according to season and climate; hence,
the cuttings for soiling food will run all the way from two to eight or
nine each season. It is so palatable that horses, mules, cattle, sheep
and swine relish it highly. When wilted a little before being fed, the
danger of producing bloat is eliminated. Its feeding value is nearly
the same as that of the medium red clover, thus making it in itself what
may be termed a balanced or perfect food for horses, mules, cattle and
sheep until development is completed and subsequently when they are at
rest; that is, when they are not producing, as in the form of labor or
milk.

The highest use, probably, from feeding alfalfa when green will arise
from feeding it to milch cows. Its high protein content in combination
with its succulence pre-eminently adapts it to such a use. Wherever
alfalfa can be grown and will produce even two cuttings a year, it will
serve a good purpose in producing milk. Every dairyman dependent more or
less on soiling food will find it to his advantage to grow alfalfa where
it may be grown in good form. When fed to milch cows, some meal added,
carbonaceous in character, as corn or non-saccharine sorghum seed, may
prove a paying investment, and it may also be advisable to alternate the
green alfalfa, morning or evening, with such other green crops as oats
and peas, millet, rape, corn or sorghum when in season, to provide
variety. But even though alfalfa alone should be thus made to supplement
the pastures, the outcome should be at least fairly satisfactory. When
fed to horses that are working, some care must be exercised in feeding
it, lest too lax a condition of the bowels should be induced, and a
grain factor should be fed at the same time. It has frequently been
given to sheep that were being fitted for show purposes, but may also be
fed green to the entire flock, with a view to supplement the pastures.
It has special adaptation for promoting large growth in lambs, and,
indeed, in any kind of young stock to which it may be fed. When fed to
swine, a small grain supplement properly chosen and fed will insure more
satisfactory growth. It is thought that more satisfactory results will
be obtained from allowing the alfalfa to get fairly well on toward the
blossoming stage before beginning to feed, and to continue to feed until
in full bloom. This in practice may not always be possible, but usually
an