AVERAGE PERCENTAGE COMPOSITION OF SWEET CLOVER AND OTHER FORAGE CROPS._Sweet Clover: Utilization

-----------------+---------+--------------------------------------------

| | Constituents (per cent).

| +------+-----+--------+----------------+-----

| Number | | | +------+---------+

Kinds of forage. | of |Water.| Ash.| Crude | |Nitrogen-| Fat.

-----------------+---------+------+-----+--------+------+---------+-----

| | | | | | |

Sweet clover[10]| 18 | 75.6 | 2.1 | 4.4 | 7.0 | 10.2 | 0.7

Alfalfa[10] | 143 | 74.7 | 2.4 | 4.5 | 7.0 | 10.4 | 1.0

Red Clover[10] | 85 | 73.8 | 2.1 | 4.1 | 7.3 | 11.7 | 1.0

| | | | | | |

clover[11] | 37 | .... | 8.2 | 17.6 | 28.2 | 43.0 | 3.0

clover[11] | 3 | .... | 6.4 | 15.8 | 35.6 | 39.0 | 2.6

Alfalfa[11] | 211 | .... | 9.6 | 17.4 | 29.8 | 40.3 | 2.9

Red clover[11] | 99 | .... | 7.0 | 15.6 | 27.7 | 44.9 | 3.9

Timothy[11] | 194 | .... | 6.2 | 8.2 | 32.5 | 49.9 | 3.2

-----------------+---------+------+-----+--------+------+---------+-----

DIGESTIBLE NUTRIENTS OF SWEET CLOVER AND OTHER FORAGE CROPS WHEN FED TO

SHEEP.[12]

----------------+----------+---------------------------------+---------

| | Digestible nutrients in 100 |

| | pounds of air-dried hay. |Nutritive

|Dry matter+--------+--------+-------+-------+ratio.[13]

Kinds of forage.| in 100 |Protein.|Carbohy-| Fat. | Dry |

----------------+----------+--------+--------+-------+-------+---------

| | | | | |

clover hay | 92.2 | 11.88 | 36.68 | 0.49 | 56.12 | 1:3.2

Pea hay | 93.1 | 11.24 | 48.55 | .71 | 62.5 | 1:4.5

Alfalfa hay | 92.2 | 11.73 | 42.38 | .72 | 60.90 | 1:3.8

----------------+----------+--------+--------+-------+-------+---------

[10] Analyses taken from Henry and Morrison's "Foods and Feeding."

[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.