We have not made any experiments as yet as to the digestibility of this food, and it will be necessary for us to do so before we can make any definite statement as to its value. Prof. W. J. Spillman: I am very greatly interested in what I have learned about pulp. It has been fed extensively in our country, and with great satisfaction. Unfortunately, our factory men have refused to put in drying plants, with one exception in Michigan, and most of the feeding has been done with wet pulp. I hope all your factories will put in driers. There will be no difficulty in disposing of the pulp if it is dried and molasses added to it, provided it is advertised. Mr. J. E. Brethour: In reference to artichokes as pig food, I have given this matter some attention, and am pleased to say that this root forms a very desirable vegetable food for hogs. It is a richer food than the potato, and gives better results. One great advantage with this crop is that it may be planted at a leisure season in the fall. It will then come up early in the spring, and can be fed the following fall. What roots are left in the fall will not spoil, but may be fed in the spring. There is therefore no trouble with storage, which entails a great deal of work. They are also valuable in keeping animals healthy, as they get exercise in searching for the roots. Some grain food should be fed in conjunction with them. The system of growing is similar tə growing potatoes. They are planted in drills fourteen to eighteen inches apart, and cultivated on the flat. If thev are not fed too closely. it is not necessary to plant a second time. The second season we plow the ground and work it on top, then leave it till the roots sprout, and as soon as we can see them in the field, we cultivate them out in rows. It is an economical way of furnishing a bulky food. I am informed by people who have tested them that they will yield from one thousand to twelve hundred bushels per acre, and, if that is the case, I am sure there is no more valuable food. Q. What sort do you use? Mr. Brethour: The white artichoke. Q. What time in the fall do you plant? Mr. Brethour: Any time after October, so as to remove any danger of sprouting, and cultivate the first thing in the spring. Q. How much seed to the acre? Mr. Brethour: About 25 bushels. Q. Do you cut them? Mr. Brethour: No; we have never gone to that trouble. Q. Where can you secure the seed? Mr. Brethour: I secured mine from a man who was growing them near me. Prof. Spillman: With reference to alfalfa, it is very dangerous to pasture cattle or sheep upon alfalfa alone, as they are subject to bloat. Sometimes cattle will refuse to eat it at first, but they soon get used to it. Prof. Zavitz: I have known of two or three instances in Ontario where cattle died from pasturing on alfalfa alone. but where it was sown with a mixture of grasses I have not known of such cases. Prof. Spillman: Some farmers in Ohio sow it with brome grass and clover. It is an excellent mixture, and with it the danger of bloating is extremely small. If wheat straw stacks are available, the danger is reduced to nothing, as the cattle will eat the alfalfa for two or three hours and then eat the straw. Prof. Grisdale: We are growing it pure and mixed, and I think it is quite possible to grow it profitably in a rotation where there is only two years in hay. The crop is very much greater than we could get from the common red clover, so much so that it more than pays for extra cost of seed. ANALYSES OF BY-PRODUCTS. Mr. Henry Glendinning, Manilla, opened a discussion on the analysis of by-products: I think the time has come when the Union should memorialize the Government at Ottawa to pass a law compelling the manufacturers of by-products, such as gluten meal, and other feeding stuffs, to place upon each package a certificate of the chemical contents. I would, therefore, move the following resolution: "That this Experimental Union memorialize the Dominion Government to enact a law that the manufacturers of all by-products used as feeding stuffs for live stock, such as bran, oil cake, gluten meal, etc., be compelled to place upon the package the analysis of the same, showing the protein, carbohydrates, and ether extract the food contains, and that the same be guaranteed." The resolution was seconded by Mr. T. G. Raynor. A Member: In Wisconsin the State sends out men to take samples of these products, which are analyzed, and a bulletin published giving information as to what they contain, so that the farmer knows just how the State analyses compare with the guarantee given by the manufacturer. Would it not be wise to adopt some such provision here? Mr. Glendinning: I hardly think it would be necessary, providing we had a law requiring the contents to be given. Samples could then be taken from the packages and sent to Ottawa, where they could be analysed to see if they came up to the standard. Mr. Robt. Thompson: I think that bran should be left out of the resolution, as there would then be more hope of having it put into effect. a law Prof. W. J. Spillman, Washington, D. C.: In our country the farmers need in reference to bran as much as they do anything, because it is very grossly and frequently adulterated. In our country such laws apply to bran, and protect the farmers greatly. Mr. Glendinning: It is hard to tell what a great deal of the bran you buy consists of. It appears to contain a great deal of dirt and foreign material, such as the sweepings of the mill. The resolution on being voted upon was carried. GRASSES AND CLOVERS FOR HAY AND FOR PASTURE. By Prof. W. J. Spillman, Agrostologist, Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C. What I shall have to say will be confined largely to the grasses of the United States, because I am not familiar with the conditions in Ontario, except what I infer from the conditions in the States similarly situated across the line. I know what must be the conditions here from what the conditions are in Wisconsin. That State, perhaps, comes more nearly duplicating the con tions here than does any other State in the Union. In the United States we have 414,000,000 acres of improved land, and of that, 125.000,000 acres is devoted to permanent pasture; that is to say, it is not plowed land. We have 219,000,000 acres of plowed land, from which crops are actually harvested. That gives you some idea of the relative importance of permanent pasture and plowed land. Of the plowed land, 61,000,000 acres is devoted to hay crops. More than three-quarters of the grass land, principally the hay land, is in those States which are contiguous to the Province of Ontario, at least to Canada-north of the Ohiǝ River and east of Nebraska and the Dakotas, so that nearly all the grass is grown in a corner of our country touching on this part of Canada. I infer from that that the proportion of land devoted to grass in Ontario is larger than in the United States, taken as a whole. A few words regarding the varieties that constitute the 61,000,000 acres. I may say that in the United States we have over 15,000,000 acres of wild grasses, which are of use for hay. They are included in the acreage given. That leaves 46,000,000 acres of tame hay, which includes 4,000,000 acres of fodder crops. There are 31,000,000 acres of timothy out of the 46,000,000 acres, or mixtures in which timothy is the leading constituent. Next to timothy comes red clover, with 4,000,000 acres. The 31,000,000 acres includes all mixtures in which timothy is found, and most of the clover is sown with timothy, but there are 4,000,000 acres of clover sown without any admixture, all sown north of the Ohio River and east of Nebraska. In addition to the clovers, we have four million acres of crops that our census takers designate as fodder crops, including sor ghum cut for feed, Kaffir corn cut for fodder, and maize when cut for silage or soiling purposes. On the Pacific coast a lot of wheat when found to be mixed with, wild oa ts is cut for hay, and in every State of the Union more or less of the oat crop is cut for the same purpose. All told, about 3.000,000 acres of grain are cut annually for hay. There were 2,404.000 tons of alfalfa hay cut in 1899; I imagine the area is double that now, as there has been an enormous increase. In Dallas, Texas, from which town most of the alfalfa seed sown in Northern Texas is supplied, no less than 500,000 lbs. of alfalfa seed were sold last year, which is considerably more than is generally sold for like areas, but it is only an indication of what has been taking place over the eas tern half of the United States. The farmers are just as much interested in alfalfa there as they are in California. Alfalfa is a plant to which I have given more attention during the past year than to all the other hay crops put together. It is not a pasture plant; it does not stand pasturing very well, and is easily killed off by pasturing. It is a very dangerous thing to pasture cattle and sheep upon it in most regions. In the irrigated region of the west, it is almost the only hay crop, and I know of at least one farm that yields eight and a half tons per acre. Q: How many cuttings? Prof. Spillman: From three to four a year. In southern California they get from six to nine crops, according to the amount of water they have. It is not a pasture plant, except for hogs, and it is the best ho g pasture I know of. Texas, who grew 800 acres of alfalfa last year, is pasturing hogs on it, and getting results that I will not tell you about, because I have already told you too many improbable stories. As to the soil on which it will grow It will not grow on heavy clay land, unless it is in very dry seasons; it will drown out. It will not grow where its feet are kept wet. A Member: There is a section of Ontario, namely. in Brant and Haldimand, where alfalfa is most successfully grown, and yet the soil is an extremely heavy clay; but it is a dry subsoil. Prof. Spillman: Perhaps you and I would differ about what a heavy clay soil is. If it thrives well on that soil, I am certain that it is not, strictly speaking, a heavy clay soil. It will grow on any soil that has an open, porous subsoil, free from standing water at all times of the year. Q: Is it true that a certain bacteria has to be introduced in order to get the best results? Prof. Spillman: Yes; it is a leguminous plant; it produces its seed in a two-valve pod like a pea pod, which is a characteristic of all these plants, including beans, peas, clovers, and Soy beans. All these have certain parasitic bacilli on their roots, which give rise to the formation of warts on the roots. You will find the roots of the ordinary garden pea covered with these. On red clover they are twice as large as an ordinary pinhead; so they are on alfalfa, but they are long and white in color. They are caused by the presence of bacteria. If the soil does not have in it the kind of bacillus required by alfalfa, then it is probable that alfalfa will not thrive on that soil until that bacillus has been introduced there. We have tested that thoroughly in Washington. We have sent out thousands of specimens of seed of all the legumes, inoculating half the seed with bacilli, and in all cases magnificent crops were obtained from the inoculated seed, while the other half" was a total failure. We have done that so many thousand times that we are ready to say po sitively that unless these bacilli are present it will pay to add them to the soil. In so me districts they are already present. Q. Will the same bacteria inoculate red clover and alfalfa? Prof. Spillman: No, there is a different one for each kind of legume; but the kind which flourishes on red clover will thrive on alsike, and vice versa, and the kind that grows on sweet clover thrives on alfalfa; but as a rule, if you take the bacteria of one of the kinds and put it on another, the plant will not thrive as well as if you take its own kind. Q: Where can we get that bacteria? Prof. Spillman: Our department in Washington furnishes it free to our farmers, I do not know whether they would send it here, but if you will annex us we will do it. (Laughter.) Q. How is it sent out? Prof. Spillman: In the form of powder. The farmer puts this in a bucket of water, in which the bacteria will grow. He sprinkles the water over the seed, lets it dry, and sows it. Or if you know that a certain soil is inoculated all right, get a sack full of dirt from that field and scatter it over the new field. Q. Would you recommend the Government here to supply it to the farmers? Prof. Spillman: Yes; alfalfa does not thrive readily without it. It would not cost a great deal for the Government to do it, as the methods have been thoroughly worked out. We will send your Government all the bacteria it needs to start with, and all that will be necessary will be for some man to attend to it. It will not cost more than $1,500 a year to grow all that could be utilized in Canada. Mr. W. S. Fraser: In many sections of the Province you will find that experience varies very much in regard to alfalfa; some grow it successfully, others cannot. In that case, would it be wise to go to the farm where it succeeds and there? get soil from Prof. Spillman: If the plant growing there has white nodules on the roots, then the field is inoculated, and it will certainly pay you to take dirt from that field, say two. bushels, and distribute it on the land that has failed to produce a crop. Q. With regard to clay, I have had success on the heaviest clay; in fact, it does better there than anywhere else. This opinion was confirmed by several other members. Prof. Spillman: It may be that your colder climate will cause a clay soil to behave differently from what it does with us. The point is that the reason it does not thrive on a very heavy clay soil with us is that such a soil is liable to be water-soaked. Prof. Zavitz: In Ontario it seems to depend more on the sub-soil than on the surface soil. soil. Prof. Spillman: I refer to the sub-soil, not the surface soil; to the drainage of the Prof. Harcourt: I know of a field that has been in alfalfa for ten years, that has a heavy surface clay and a heavy sub-soil clay, and I know that in digging for a well they found the roots in the stiff clay seven or eight feet down in the ground, and the roots were large enough to make lines of demarcation in breaking up ground. That field produced three crops a year. It is not on a hill face, but rather low lying, but it drains out. I do not think it matters so much what the surface soil or the sub-soil is, so long as it drains out properly. Prof. Spillman: I see that we are differing in the terms we apply to soil. When you get south of the glacial drift there are soils that take a week to wet and a year to dry. What we call a clay soil down there does not behave at all like the soils I have described. We call such a soil as you describe a clay loam. In regard to feeding alfalfa to horses. if they are fed exclusively on alfalfa hay, they are liable to kidney disease. If they are fed alfalfa only once a day there is no difficulty about it. There are thousands of horses in the west that never eat anything but alfalfa, but in that region it is common to have horses die of kidney disease. Q: Is there any difference between the first and second cut in this respect? Prof. Spillman: There is a great difference of opinion on that point, and it has never been settled. The time to cut alfalfa for hay is the time it has begun to bloom. The curing is difficult because it sheds its leaves very rapidly as it gets dry. The hay should be put up in rather large cocks before it is dry and allowed to cure there, and be put under shelter just as soon as it is dry enough not to heat. Experience is the only thing that can tell you when it is dry enough not to heat. You may spoil some alfalfa hay when you begin. For cows I will say that if I were feeding hay, I should prefer to feed alfalfa hay rather than any other. I feed them straight alfalfa, and if I feed a little grain with it I think it is the finest ration a cow can eat. Alfalfa hay and five, six or seven pounds of cracked shelled corn a day for a cow in full milk is an excellent ration; it will save half your grain bill. Q. How will it do for silage? : A. It makes very fine silage, and is very easy to handle. For hogs it is my preference of all the pastures I know of. If hogs are put on alfalfa and given no other feed at all, they make an enormous growth of bone and muscle, and apparently a good growth of fat, but the fat is water, and not oil, and if you put it in the pan to fry, it will boil, instead of fry. If you want to produce hard bacon, you must feed grain or something else along with the alfalfa. In the United States our packers pay no attention to whether the bacon is soft or hard; we do not know any difference between highclass bacon and second-class bacon; we eat our own bacon. I imagine that peas and barley along with alfalfa would make hard flesh. At the Kansas Experiment Station they fed their hogs on chopped alfalfa hay through the winter, and wintered them nicely. Governor Hoard, of Wisconsin, tried the same experiment, and says that it is now his regular feed for brood sows during the winter. Q: How does he feed it? A.: In the trough. Q. Is it soaked? Prof. Spillman : I do not know; I do not think that is a matter of much importance. It is also good for chickens. Mr. Clark: I had twenty acres of alfalfa and pastured my stock on it all summer, and had no trouble with bloating. Prof. Spillman: There is one section of our country where on the uplands I never knew of a case of bloat. But an alfalfa field is too valuable to allow sheep or cows upon it, because they will kill it out if they pasture it at all closely. Q. What about its place in the rotation? Prof. Spillman: We have a noted farmer named Joseph Wing, of Ohio. He has a very simple rotation, namely corn and alfalfa-four years of alfalfa and one of corn. He says the only reason he grows the corn is that the grass invades the alfalía crop and he had to plow it up, but he got one hundred bushels of corn to the acre right |