356 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



PROF. COOKE: My experience with early cut timothy was in 

 the State of Vermont, Jind I think one of the hottest fights I have 

 ever had in an agricultural iustitute was when I undertook to de- 

 fend the cutting of timothy, at the usual stage of cutting, before 

 a serious public and an audience of dairymen. From chemical 

 analysis, timothy has the largest percentage of digestible material 

 just when it is in full blossom, and judging from the chemical side, 

 I advocated to that audience that that was the proper time to cut 

 their timothy; and they jumped on me with both feet. The Ver- 

 monter has found out by experience that just so many days as he 

 cuts his timothy earlier, just so much more milk and butter is he 

 going to get out of his cows in winter time. If you go up there you 

 will find them depending largely on timothy hay, but cutting it 

 early. They say the stage for cutting is as soon as you can see the 

 first sign of an}^ purple coloring, which really is before the plant be- 

 gins to blossom. And using that as their hay they are able to get a 

 good flow of milk in the winter time. The time to cut clover is 

 about the time to begin haying; the first Monday after the Fourth of 

 July. Their idea is to begin earlier and celebrate their Fourth of 

 July after. 



Chemical analysis shows that the timothy cut in that stage has a 

 much higher digestibility and practically is very much richer in 

 albuminoids. The objection is that by this early cutting you de- 

 crease the weight of the crop, and yet you ^et a much larger in- 

 crease in the aftermath, and that also has a high digestibility and n 

 high nitrogen content. So, in cutting early, you are getting a 

 first class material for the dairy cow. T am not talking now^ about 

 selling or feeding any but dairy cow^s. 



One word more with reference to the last question under discus- 

 sion. 1 have had some little experience in the line of feeding ensi- 

 lage to steers, and I agree to everything that has been said about 

 feeding steers in the early stage. I have found, taking steers out of 

 the same bunch, and gradually breaking them off the ensilage the 

 last few weeks, that they kept their condition better than those that 

 had not been rounded olf with dry feed, so that \ would certainly 

 advise, if the steers are to be shipped from the farm, that the fat- 

 tening be finished on some dry food. 



MK. R. J. WELD: We had some timothy along our line fence and 

 our dairy cows were bothering us by reaching through after this 

 timothy and breaking the fence. I suggested that we cut it as it 

 was and obviate this nuisance. This was just after the heads came 

 in sight, about the middle of June. We cut this and put it in the 

 mow and along in ihr winter when we came to it I never fed any 

 kind of hny thnt tlie <(»\vs seemed to relish as much or came as near 



