41 G ANNUAL RECORD OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 



breed, fodder, pasturage, etc. ; but he suggests that the pub- 

 lication of the results of similar experiments by others, ac- 

 companied by description of their flocks, will in time afibrd. 

 a basis for tlie estimation of their sheep. 28 C,3Iarc/i, 1873, 

 180. 



TIME TO CUT CLOVER FOR UAY. 



Opinions of agriculturists being at variance as to the proper 

 time to cut clover for hay, Professors Heiden and Voigt in- 

 stituted a series of experiments to determine this point. 

 Equal portions of a field were cut on the 9th, iVth, and 24th 

 of July, at the periods respectively of budding, early blossom, 

 and full bloom. The grass and resulting hay were carefully 

 weighed, and analyses made. Their conclusions were that 

 clover has less value as provender when cut late, on account 

 of the diminution of the amount of nutritious nitrogenous mat- 

 ter, and the increase of cellulose or woody substance ; and 

 that an actual increase of nutriment in the crop from early 

 blossom to full bloom does not take place. They conclude, 

 therefore, that it is best to cut clover in early blossom. 

 Furthermore, by reason of the woodiness of old clover, the 

 nutriment it contains can not be as readily extracted by the 

 animal, so that it is not practically as valuable as its analysis 

 would indicate. 28 C, March, 1873, 151. 



i APPARATUS FOR DRYING GRAIX. 



M. Coignet has recently devised an apparatus for the pur- 

 pose of drying grain and other substances at a cheap rate, 

 and without destroying the germinating power of the seeds 

 at the same time. For this purpose the articles to be dried 

 are placed upon perforated stages and traversed by a current 

 of air from above, downward, heated to the proper tempera- 

 ture, from 104 to 122 Fahr., which he finds best to answer 

 his purposes. A still higher temperature (namely, from 300 

 to 310), applied in the same apparatus, enables him to dry 

 certain animal matters, intended as manures, without causing 

 the loss of their nitrogenous material; but, as such a temper- 

 ature of dry air would be apt to cause combustion, he re- 

 places this by superheated steam. In this way lie has suc- 

 ceeded in preparing twenty cubic meters of manure per day ; 

 and he is of the opinion that in this way we can best make 



