In western Kansas farm horses have been wintered on a daily feed of 10 pounds of alfalfa hay and some corn stover, and thin horses fattened on alfalfa hay and a little corn. CRESCEUS EATS ALFALFA Again, the prevalent notion that it is not good for driving horses has been contradicted by hundreds of farmers who use it for such horses, and by hundreds in western towns who use it for delivery horses, dray horses, and light drivers, as well. In parts of California it is the only hay fed to horses. “Cresceus, the great race horse, is said to have been raised on it and it is said that he is fed no other hay, even while on the racing circuit.” The same was said of Sysonby, the fleetest Thoroughbred in the races of 1905. Many of the city transfer companies in Denver, Kansas City and Omaha use alfalfa hay, claiming that it enables them to reduce their grain ration, while their horses seem stronger and look better than they did with the former feed of corn and timothy. TOO MUCH HAY FED It is no doubt true that Americans feed their horses too much hay. It is common among horse owners to let horses stand to full mangers when not at work. In London the cab horses, for example, are given hay for but two hours a day, in the evening. At the end of two hours the mangers are cleared. Careful testing in decreasing the timothy hay ration one-half has not shown that the horses required any more grain than before to keep them in equally good condition. Horses do not need a heavy ration of alfalfa hay. Fed with grain, probably 10 or 15 pounds of it is equal to a manger full of other hay. As they become accustomed to the alfalfa it may be increased a little, and the grain decreased. It is a rich food and should not be used as freely as hays with less protein. Prof. L. A. Merrill of the Utah station made six tests of alfalfa hay in comparison with timothy for horses under varying conditions of work, and found that it was less difficult to maintain their weight with alfalfa. The appearance of the horses in every comparison was in favor of the alfalfa-fed horse, and no ill results were noted on their health by long-continued alfalfa feeding. Fourteen-hundred pound horses at hard work could be maintained in condition on 32.6 pounds of alfalfa hay per day, and at rest 20 pounds was sufficient for the same horses. The quantity of hay fed on most farms could be reduced at least one-half. With all its merits alfalfa hay is by no means a properly balanced ration for all purposes, and those unacquainted with this fact are liable to feed it, exclusively or otherwise, in such quantities as are both extravagant and harmful. D. C. Smead, a veterinarian of note, in writing about using the hay in too great quantities, especially in feeding horses, says this: