110 TRANSACTIONS OF STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



early growth about the time the warm spring days begin to come, though 

 it may make only a light crop, the new growth will start with vigor, 

 and at the end of a month, when ready to cut again, you will probably 

 have a ton per acre more than if the two cuttings had been thrown into 

 one, and the hay will be of much better quality. 



There is another important advantage in early cutting. Foxtail grass 

 often spoils the first cutting of hay for horses. But if cut before the 

 grass head begins to harden it is entirely harmless, as it will not fasten 

 in a horse's mouth at this stage. 



Condition at Cutting. — Throughout the season great care should be 

 taken to cut promptly when the alfalfa has reached a proper state for 

 making first-class hay. Of course, there are different opinions as to 

 what the "proper state" is. I can only give my own opinion and the 

 reason for it. And that opinion is that it should be cut before the stalk 

 begins to harden, as it always does as the buds mature and the blos- 

 soms begin to open. If it stands longer, the quality of the hay deterio- 

 rates much more than the additional growth can compensate for. But 

 there are those who want it to stand longer. They say that it makes 

 better feed and has more substance in it. This is true, if woody sub- 

 stance is desired, but it is not true if nutriment is the object in view, if 

 we may rely upon the tables and statements made in Farmers' Bulletin 

 No. 31 of the United States Department of Agriculture. On page 18 it 

 is said: " The percentage of nitrogenous compounds in the plant varies 

 considerably, the maximum being in the early stages of its growth and 

 the minimum about the time the seed commences to ripen. Hence, hay 

 cut early, especially before the plant begins to bloom, is more nutritious 

 than that cut after it has begun to bloom." The writer gives the 

 analyses of hay made at four different periods in the growth of the 

 plant, showing that the statements just made are correct from a scien- 

 tific point of view. And I feel sure that experience will lead any 

 careful observer to the same conclusions. 



Local Experiments. — About two months ago, after feeding my cow for 

 some time on hay which had been cut when in bloom, I changed to hay 

 cut before it began to bloom, and at once her flow of milk increased at 

 least one fourth. And my neighbor, Mr. H. D. Noland, tells me that 

 in the same way the weight of milk given by his herd has been very 

 greatly increased just as soon as changed from hay made in the ordinary 

 way to that made from tender, young alfalfa. 



Another point in favor of early cutting is worth considering. Cows 

 will then eat the stalks clean, wasting nothing. But if it stands until 

 in bloom, when the stalks become woody, they cannot be induced to eat 

 them, often wasting one fourth of the weight. 



Hence, I am fully convinced that one making hay for his own use 



