The Book of Alfalfa: History, Cultivation and Merits / Its Uses as a Forage and Fertilizer

Its perennial nature and the reports of its wonderfully productive and nutritive qualities might naturally lead the farmer, without better acquaintance, to suppose that with alfalfa he has perpetual pasture; that he will open the gate to his live stock in the spring, send for the butcher or buyer in October, and then winter in luxurious leisure. But he finds that the easiest is not always the most profitable way. Pasturing with any stock is an expensive and extravagant method of gathering a valuable crop from high-priced land. Where land is cheap and pasture is wild, stock are not expensive help in gathering a cheap crop; but it is easily demonstrated that when land values are high and a crop value is in a like altitude, man with machinery can do the harvesting more economically than can a cow, a steer or even a sheep.

ALFALFA A TENDER PLANT

In some respects alfalfa does not seem to be a natural pasture plant. The stems are delicate, it will not thrive in a hard, trampled soil, and the crowns when broken off will not revive; if some of the plants bloom and drop their flowers early in the season, they lose vigor and many of them die. These peculiarities would at least indicate that it should not be pastured at all until it has become established, has its crowns well spread, has abundant stems and its roots have a strong start on their underground career. Not an animal should be turned on an alfalfa field until the second or third year if it is desired that the stand endure for several years, nor should it be pastured too early in the spring or too late in the fall. There should be something of a growth left for winter protection. Careful alfalfa raisers are known who pasture their older fields, but never put on a full quota of stock until they have cut over the field when the plants are first coming into bloom. They insist that this cutting invigorates and gives the plants new life. They then pasture quite closely until some time in September, after which there is time for some final growth for winter protection.

A GOOD SWINE PASTURE

A chief exception that most farmers insist on is that it is an excellent pasture for pigs and, if it is not stocked too heavily, its use for grazing young swine will not largely decrease the yield of hay. Its marked protein property seems to give to the pigs a superior growth of frame and flesh. Farmers claim that pigs a few weeks old turned into an alfalfa field derive almost their entire living from it and leave the sows two weeks earlier than other pigs, coming in September with a gain of from 100 to 125 pounds, while the field has yielded its three cuttings of hay. Of course, if too many pigs are grazed, the hay yield will be less. But even here the question of labor versus hay must be considered.

DANGERS TO CATTLE AND SHEEP

The greatest objection to pasturing alfalfa is its bloating cattle and sheep. Hogs and horses do not suffer, although a Texas farmer writes that he lost some pigs from something similar to bloat that he attributed to the alfalfa. But this may be considered questionable, as thousands have regularly pastured hogs and horses on alfalfa with no symptoms of bloat. From hundreds of inquiries sent out by the experiment stations, it is determined that over ninety per cent of those who have pastured cattle or sheep on alfalfa have lost one or more animals by doing so, yet many report having pastured the same kind of stock on alfalfa for years, regularly every season, without loss. Careful investigations have been made with the purpose of finding out why some have been immune while others suffered. Since, in the cases of loss, only a small proportion of the animals pastured are affected, it may be inferred that much depends upon the nature and condition of the individual animal. Practically every western station has carefully experimented, following the directions of men who have been free from loss, yet it has cost each station valuable animals.

Horse stock of all ages find alfalfa pasturage conducive to growth, fattening, and their general health. If the foliage is short and scant, horses are severe on the fields used in winter because they are able to crop close, and not infrequently paw loose dirt away from the plants, biting off the crowns a fourth or even half inch below the surface of the ground. It is easy to understand the loss of the bud or growing point may be detrimental to the growth and usefulness of the plants, causing many to die, resulting in bare spots later to be overgrown by noxious weeds and grasses. After the damage is done there remains no remedy but to plow up the field and reseed, or to disk thoroughly and then reseed the bare spots. If the field has not deteriorated too much, the latter is much to be preferred. By diligence and careful treatment, or prompt action closely following any encroachments upon the life of the plants, the quality and yield may be maintained and the profits relatively enhanced. Alfalfa has wonderful recuperative powers, but continuous nipping of the crowns will do most serious harm and eventually decrease the yield not a little.

EXPERIENCES WITH CATTLE

One man reports turning eighty steers into one alfalfa field where there was running water, and a second herd into another field without running water, but water ran through a wild grass meadow adjoining, into which this herd was driven every afternoon and turned back into the alfalfa the next morning. The first herd suffered no loss, while five valuable animals died in the second field on the second day, before they could be removed. When all were put into the first field there was no more bloat. Another reported turning cows into a small field where there was a trough full of water all the time. Here, as in the case of the steers, a full feed was given before the cows were turned on the alfalfa. Before noon one cow had to be relieved by a trocar, and another by being driven rapidly about the field. The wherefores of such occurrences present a problem yet to be solved. Certainly there is more danger in pasturing cows and sheep on alfalfa than most people care to risk. Aside from the financial loss, there is, also, the humane side of the question.

A very fair statement, representative of those made by parties who pasture cattle on alfalfa without losses from bloat, is the following, given to the author by Mr. S. C. Hanna, an extensive and reputable breeder of Shorthorns, in Elk county, (southern) Kansas, who says:

“I have been pasturing alfalfa successfully without bloating my cattle for a number of years; in fact, I have never lost an animal from alfalfa bloat. As I am raising high priced, pure bred Shorthorns and graze them on my meadows more or less at all times of year, I always sow a good mixture of English blue-grass (Festuca elatior) and orchard grass (Dactylis glomerata) with it, making alfalfa the base and principal seeding. I am very partial to orchard grass in this mixture because it makes considerable hay, and springs up so quickly after each mowing. In this section orchard grass is a stayer, and will hold its own against all comers.

“I always am cautious when we first turn the cattle on alfalfa, seeing to it that they have a good fill on something else beforehand, and hold them at first on some part of the field where the mixed grasses are the thickest, so they can graze there first. In twenty minutes they will be safe to go where they wish, and may be allowed to run at will thereafter. I find, however, that on the clear alfalfa meadows there is almost no danger from bloat after the plants have begun to bloom. I usually have some hay stacked in the pastures, that the cattle may run to. I have, however, pastured alfalfa in all stages where there would be perhaps twenty acres of alfalfa in one place, and some prairie grass and also tame grasses in the same enclosure, and had no bloat. This has been, too, sometimes in May and June, when showers were frequent and the alfalfa most succulent. It would seem that the cattle will take care of themselves if they have a good chance. I usually superintend these changes personally, and see that all conditions are right.

“I find we get almost as much hay from the mixed fields as from the exclusively alfalfa meadows, and the fall aftermath is much better. The theory that alfalfa will not flourish with the other grasses is wrong. My favorite meadows contain a mixture of this kind, including some red clover, and I have cut four good crops of hay from them this season, after pasturing moderately from March 15 to May 1. I always get the stock horses and mules on pasture by March 15, and the cattle about April 1, and move them to wild grass prairie pasture about May 1, except a few that we will keep on the meadows all season. These we change from one field to another when the alfalfa becomes tall enough to be trampled down or damaged.

“If my object was only to raise hay for market, I would sow the alfalfa alone and keep the stock off altogether, but for my purpose I prefer a mixture. By doing my way I never miss a good stand, and the mixture keeps down the foxtail and crab grass. I have been sowing this mixture for about fifteen years, and have over 300 acres.”

Mr. J. F. Stodder of Cowley county, Kansas, a prominent breeder of pure bred cattle, makes this statement to the author, which is simply further testimony that a mixture of other grasses with alfalfa intended for grazing greatly diminishes, if it does not entirely eliminate, the risk and dangers of bloat:

“I have several fields of mixed grasses. These contain enough alfalfa so that we cut them for hay at regular times, and the proportion of grasses and alfalfa is largely in favor of the latter. In such fields as these I pasture cattle at will, and have never seen any evidence of bloat therefrom. But my experience with the straight alfalfa fields leads me to be very cautious. I find that I can pasture them at times without danger, and at other times a large proportion of the cattle will bloat. It is possible that I have made the statement that I never lost cattle by pasturing alfalfa, which is true, because we have always been lucky enough to discover the ailing animals in time to give them relief.”

Mr. F. S. Kirk of Oklahoma, mentioned in Chapter III, pastures his cattle on alfalfa in fall and spring, but does not give them access to his meadows in the morning until the dew has dried off, and for only twenty or thirty minutes the first day or two; then for an hour or two for a few days, and after that they are left in the pastures until sundown.

GENERALLY DANGEROUS TO SHEEP

Experiments with sheep seem to be even more disastrous than with cattle. In an investigation conducted by the Colorado station, losses were reported by nearly every man who had pastured sheep on alfalfa. Some lost but one or two, while others lost forty or fifty. A few reported that each spring they lost a few sheep the first day they were on the pasture, and then no more, and that the losses of old sheep were of less importance than the growth of the lambs, these being seldom affected by bloat. Most, however, advised that the old should not be turned on alfalfa under any circumstances, but that lambs, if well fed in the morning, let on the alfalfa after the dew was off and then kept there night and day would do well, and the loss be smaller than that in a normal season from other causes. J. E. Wing states that his loss from pasturing lambs on alfalfa in Ohio is less than it formerly was from one or two parasitic diseases that never trouble alfalfa-pastured lambs. He gives his lambs a full feed in the morning, turns them on the alfalfa field about ten o’clock, and leaves them there continuously until September. He begins the pasturing just before the seasons first growth of the alfalfa blooms.

While by no means without risk, pasturing sheep on alfalfa is not always necessarily fatal and the following, related in the Breeder’s Gazette by Mr. C. H. Williams of Powell county, Montana, is interesting:

“We have been pasturing sheep in large numbers on alfalfa for the past eight years. We have lost from bloat as many as 26 in one day from a flock of 1600, but we seldom lose one now. We find they are much more apt to bloat on windy days; more especially if the wind blows from the south and is soft and balmy. This may seem strange, but we believe it a fact. We have in our employ a shepherd who has during the greater part of his life herded sheep on alfalfa in the vicinity of Pau and d’Oloron, France. The day we lost 26 ewes from bloat this man was several miles from the home ranch. When visited by the camptender he remarked: ‘This will be a bad day for the old ewes on the alfalfa.’ Why so? ‘Because the wind is soft and warm,’ said he. That afternoon we found 26 dead.

“Our French shepherd has a simple and never failing remedy for bloat from alfalfa or clover. It is simply a half-pint of sweet milk administered to the animal when found bloated. I saved a fine ram lamb the other day. He was fearfully bloated, unable to walk and scarcely able to breathe. I found an old can in the road, hastened to the pasture, milked a half pint of milk from a cow, set the lamb on his rump and poured the milk down his throat. In a half hour he was all right and following the flock. Milk from a ewe will answer just as well. We have adopted the following rules: Never allow the sheep to go on alfalfa pasture when very hungry; if possible get a little dry feed in their stomachs in the morning before going to the alfalfa; watch them closely on windy days, and have the herders carry a bottle of sweet milk.”

A POSSIBLE EXPLANATION

The most of the losses reported were of animals which had been taken off the pasture at night and turned back the second morning when hungry and eager to graze. Yet there are reports of severe losses the first day, even after a full feed. Possibly it will be found that the animals that suffer from bloat are not in good physical condition, and are more nervous and greedy in their habit of eating than those not affected. It may be that an intelligent sorting of the animals to be turned on the pasture might save loss. It is also quite generally believed that alfalfa growing on uplands is less liable to cause bloat than that raised on bottom lands.

RULES FOR PASTURING

The most generally approved rules in regard to pasturing are:

At the beginning of the pasturing season give animals a heavy feeding in the morning before turning upon the alfalfa.

Have water in the pasture all the time.

Keep the animals in the pasture night and day, after they have become accustomed to it, until removed permanently.

Use upland in preference to bottom fields for pasture.

Watch the stock closely the first few days and remove permanently animals that show symptoms of bloat.

Sow blue-grass, brome grass, or meadow fescue with alfalfa in fields intended for permanent pasture.

The following valuable information upon bloat (tympanitis) and its treatment was prepared by Nelson S. Mayo, formerly professor of veterinary science at the Kansas agricultural college:

“Bloating, in all cases, is accumulation of gas in the stomach or intestines, or both, but more particularly in the paunch (rumen). This gas is produced by a fermentation, similar to that observed when cider is ‘working’ and the gas escapes in bubbles. There is usually a small quantity of gas given off from the food during normal, healthy digestion, but so small that it causes no trouble, and passes off readily through the intestines, though sometimes from the stomach, up the esophagus, and out of the nose or mouth—‘belched up,’ as it is commonly expressed. These gases which cause an animal to bloat are generated in considerable quantities if a large amount of juicy, green food is eaten. Alfalfa, clover and frozen roots are very liable to produce bloating.

“It is well known that only part of the animals in a herd pasturing upon clover or alfalfa bloat; so the blame cannot be laid entirely upon the food, but is probably the result of a slight derangement of the digestive organs, not ordinarily noticed, but easily aggravated by certain foods which ferment easily. Animals that are ailing are very liable to bloat when turned on alfalfa pastures. Alfalfa and clover are much more liable to produce bloating if wet with rain or dew, and especially hoar frost, and animals are more apt to bloat if turned into the pastures when very hungry, as they gorge themselves, and the food is not properly masticated. Hence, cattle should not be allowed to go hungry to the pastures.

“It is generally believed by those who have had considerable experience in pasturing clover or alfalfa, that cattle and sheep are less liable to bloat if they have free access to dry food, such as hay or straw. Common bloating, or hoove, occurs in animals having a compound stomach and that chew the cud—ruminants, as they are called. Of our common domestic animals, cattle and sheep belong to this order.

“One of the first symptoms noticed is that the animal stops feeding, and remains lagging behind or stands by itself. Rumination, or chewing of the cud, is suspended; the animal appears dull and listless, the back slightly arched; the whole abdomen or belly is distended with a prominent swelling on the left side just forward of the point of the hip. If the swelling is tapped lightly with the fingers there is a hollow, drum-like sound; hence the technical name, tympanitis.

“The rumen being distended with gas not only makes the animal appear much fuller than usual, but it presses forward on the diaphragm, or ‘midriff,’ and this presses against the lungs, and interferes seriously with the animal’s breathing. The breath is short and rapid. The animal often grunts, or moans, with each breath. The animal’s nose protrudes, and there is a driveling of saliva from the mouth. Sometimes there are quite severe colicky pains, shown by the animal’s kicking at its belly and stepping about uneasily. Sometimes, also, the pressure is so great as to cause eversion or bulging out of the rectum. The symptoms of bloating are so prominent, especially when the history of the case is taken into account, as to make this disease very easy to recognize, even by an ordinary observer.

“When animals die from bloating, death usually takes place in the following manner: The diaphragm is pressed against the lungs so hard that the animal cannot breathe, and it dies of suffocation. Animals usually remain standing until near the end, when they gradually lose consciousness, stagger, and fall, and in falling rupture some of the vital organs.

“Treatment must depend somewhat upon the condition of the animal. If the animal is badly bloated, with labored breathing and staggering gait, energetic measures must be resorted to at once. The best and most satisfactory treatment for bad cases is tapping. This consists in making a hole through the skin and muscles, over the prominent swelling on the left side, into the rumen or ‘paunch,’ thus allowing the gas to escape at once, relieving the animal.

“The best method of tapping is by means of an instrument called a trocar and cannula. A trocar is a sharp-pointed instrument, five or six inches long, and about the size of a lead pencil, with a handle at one end. Over the point of the trocar slips a tube, called a cannula, not quite as long as the trocar, with a wide flange around the upper end of the tube, as shown in the illustration herewith.

TROCAR AND CANNULA

“To use a trocar and cannula, proceed as follows: Tie the animal so it cannot get away. With a sharp knife, make a small incision through the skin over the prominent part of the swelling on the left side. This incision should be made about half way between the point of the hip and the last rib, and should be large enough to admit the trocar and cannula readily. The incision should be made quickly; then the animal will not notice it. After the incision is made the trocar and cannula are pushed quickly in and directed downward, inward, and forward; push the trocar in until the flange of the cannula rests against the skin. Withdraw the trocar and the gas will rush out; that is, it usually does so; occasionally, however, the end of the cannula is plugged up with green food. This can usually be remedied by pulling out the cannula part way, or pushing the trocar in again and withdrawing it. If this doesn’t work, tap the stomach again in another place, using the same hole through the skin. The escape of gas is usually accompanied by a small quantity of green food.

“If a trocar and cannula are not available in an urgent case, a knife can be used very successfully—a good-sized pocket knife blade, pushed quickly through the skin and muscles, in the same manner as described for the trocar and cannula. Care must be taken that the sharp edge of the blade is not turned towards the animal’s tail, as it sometimes jumps forward, and a much larger hole is cut than was originally intended.

“A careful and observing stockman of Colorado, who has had a large experience with alfalfa bloating, informs me that he prefers a moderately small, sharp butcher knife to either a trocar and cannula or a pocket knife. It gives relief quicker and with no bad effects. Sometimes, if the opening through the skin is small, made by a small knife, a quill or small tube is fastened in to keep the incision open, so the gas can escape. It is usually necessary to keep the incision open for several hours. The only bad result of tapping is that occasionally green food gets outside of the rumen into the abdominal cavity in sufficient quantities to cause inflammation and death; but if the operation is intelligently performed, these bad results are extremely rare—probably not more than one case in 100. If the weather is warm, care should be taken that flies do not bother the wound in the skin.

“If the case is not severe enough to warrant tapping, the following remedies will be found useful: A gag made by winding a good-sized rope back of the horns and through the mouth, or a bit, made of a piece of wood the size of a fork handle, can be tied in the animal’s mouth. The bit should be smooth, to prevent injuring the mouth. Then a small handful of salt should be thrown well back on the roots of the tongue. This causes the animal to work its tongue, increases the flow of saliva, and thus favors the regurgitation, or gulping up, of the gas. The salt and saliva swallowed help to stop fermentation.

“Blankets wrung out of cold water and wrapped around the abdomen or belly, or cold water dashed on with a bucket, often give relief. Turpentine given as a drench, in milk sufficient that it will not irritate the animal, is good, two ounces of turpentine for adult cattle and one-half ounce for sheep being a dose. Hyposulphite of soda, dissolved in water and given as a drench, is good; one ounce for cattle and two drachms for sheep. This can be repeated every half hour for two or three doses. Aqua ammonia, two ounces for cattle and one-half ounce for sheep, well diluted with water; carbolic acid, cattle 30 drops, sheep 8 to 10 drops in sufficient water; common soda, in half-ounce doses for cattle and one-half drachm for sheep, can be given. In giving medicine as drenches, they should be well diluted with water or other substances until they will not burn when touched to the tongue. In giving drenches, be careful and not choke the animal. If the animal coughs or struggles violently, stop at once until it recovers somewhat. Give drenches slowly.

“Drenches are mostly administered from a long-necked, thick, glass bottle, or drenching horn. Take hold of the nose with the left hand, by putting the thumb and finger in the nostrils, while an assistant takes hold of the horns, and tips the head back. Standing on the right side of the animal, with the right hand put the neck of the bottle in the right corner of the mouth, and pour the medicine in slowly. After the bloating has been relieved, it is a good plan to give the animal a purgative—one pound of Epsom salts, with one-half pound common salt, for cattle; and for a sheep, six ounces of Epsom salts and three ounces of common salt, dissolved in plenty of warm water, and given as a drench. The animals should also be dieted until their digestive organs regain their normal condition. By dieting, I do not mean starving, but plenty of easily digested and nutritious food. An animal that bloats once is very liable to bloat again. By judicious handling and feeding, by watching animals closely, and treating them in time, few will be lost by alfalfa bloating.”

ALFALFA AS A SOILING CROP

Alfalfa may be cut for soiling just when it contains the highest per cent of protein, while if pastured some is eaten before its best period, the most of it after that point is reached, and probably a large portion of the leaves is lost entirely. Cut for soiling and fed daily, when wilted, there is less danger from bloat, as in this way animals will eat stalks as well as leaves: the entire product is used and there is no loss from trampling the fields nor by plants being covered and smothered with animal droppings.

SOME COMPARISONS

The Nebraska station reports that in an experiment there it required .71 of an acre to keep a cow for a given time by soiling, while by pasturing it required 3.63 acres; also that the cows kept on pasture during the experiment actually consumed more grain than those that were soiled. This report further states that while the pastured cows gave more milk each day, the cost of production was greater. By another experiment with cows for a single year it was indicated (Bul. No. 69) “that about twice as much feed was secured from the land when the alfalfa was soiled as when it was pastured. The average daily production of milk and of butterfat was markedly greater when the crop was pastured than when soiled. In one test this amounted to one-third more, but in the other test the difference was not so great. The profits from soiling as compared with pasturing will depend largely on two factors—the price of labor and the value of the land.”

A western Kansas farmer writes that one acre of alfalfa cut daily for soiling maintained as many cows as he was able to keep on a five-acre field used as pasture.

The Kansas station reported that in an experiment, lasting 144 days, the cows on alfalfa pasture returned an income, less cost of grain fed, of $4.23, while cows soiled on alfalfa cut and fed green returned an income, less the grain fed, of $18.08. This station also reported that a neighboring dairyman maintained ten milch cows for a whole summer, without any grain, on two acres of alfalfa, cut and fed to them fresh three times a day.

A METHOD FOR THE SMALL FARMER

In the Central West where labor is scarce and land comparatively low in price, farmers are not likely to adopt the soiling system while such conditions exist; but east of the Mississippi river, and especially in New York, Pennsylvania and New England, where land is high and labor scarce, alfalfa offers great possibilities as a soiling crop. The small farmer who now cannot afford to raise many pigs, because he does not raise enough corn to fatten them, will find that by soiling alfalfa he can maintain from May to September from five acres as many as ten cows and fifty pigs; and that these pigs, with some grain from the first of August, while being fed green alfalfa, may by the middle of November be made ready for market. If he has another five acres of alfalfa for hay, it will yield enough in three cuttings to go far toward wintering his cows, a team of horses, and his sows. His ten acres will be growing richer every year, and at the end of five years be in prime condition to yield him big returns in corn, wheat, or potatoes and other vegetables. Alfalfa is distinctly a crop adapted to the small farmer, everywhere; there is, as a rule, little question that this method of utilizing it brings much greater returns per acre than if it were used as pasturage or hay.

Green alfalfa when pastured, (barring bloat), or cut and fed daily is peculiarly valuable for all such young stock as colts, lambs, calves and pigs. It tends to develop strength of bone and hastens the growth of muscle.