CURING OF HAY. 332 



made by yourselves, and it is in regard to this that I ^visli to say 

 a few words. 



In hay cured as a good, many of you say you are curing it, by 

 placing it when it is almost green in the mow, a certain constitu- 

 ent of the green grass, or partially dried grass, coagulates. Let 

 me make this plainer. This constituent is an albuminoid. It is 

 something like the white of an egg, only it exists in veiy minute 

 proportion ; it lies in the interior of eacTi cellule of the grass in 

 such a thin film that you cannot detect it, even under the micro- 

 scope, without the use of chemicals. But this albuminoid, which 

 so closely resembles the white of an egg, will coagulate just like 

 the white of an egg. When you cure hay in the mow, many of 

 you say it heats, I believe that the albuminoid coagulates dur- 

 ing this heating under favorable circumstances. But suppose 

 moisture is present ; you cannot expect that the coagulated albu- 

 min will remain free from putrescence ; part of the hay must be de- 

 composed ; and hence some say that under these circumstances it 

 becomes good for nothing ; others say that most of the hay be- 

 comes of a superior character, and you lose only what is on top. 



Now, what I ask is, first, an answer to this question at some 

 period during the coming year, — How great is the amount of heat 

 developed during this process of curing hay ? And I will say that 

 I am so anxious to have this question answered, that I will place 

 at the disposal of any members of the Board, who will oblige me 

 •by using them, thermometers, for the purpose of obtaining some 

 accurate and well-determiined facts in regard to the exact temper- 

 ature which the hay reaches during this process of curing ; and 

 those who are willing to conduct careful experiments will have 

 placed at their disposal a self-registering thermometer. Experi- 

 ments like this which I have suggested cannot be carried on in 

 a laboratory. The chemist must have the assistance of practical 

 men. 



In closing, I will add that the woody fibre of grass, before it 

 reaches a certain degree of viahirify, may be changed by heat, so 

 as to be digestible by stock. This is contrary to the view hereto- 

 fore held by most agriculturists, but the experiments of Mr. Lawes 

 have shown that a portion of the fibre, which was formerly said to 

 be useful only for bulk, may be utilized as food. 



The questions of curing hay, of determining the amount of heat 

 developed during the process, and the effects of this heat, are all 



