The Production of New and Improved Varieties of Timothy 377 



APPENDIX 



WHEN SHOULD TIMOTHY HAY BE CUT? 



A considerable part of the value of the hay crop depends on the season 

 at which it is cut. In the Eastern and New England States, the farmers 

 usually aim to cut their hay soon after the plants arc in bloom, but a 

 considerable part of the crop is cut at a much later period; in the Central 

 or Corn Belt States, the cutting is usually done at a later 

 period. At present there is little exact knowledge 

 available from which a rational practice can be 

 established, the farmers' practice in general being 

 based on no very definite information. Lacking 

 definite knowledge of the damage from late cutting, 

 the grower, if other work is pressing, is likely to neglect 

 his haying, thinking that it makes little difference 

 if the crop is not harvested until rather late. We 

 need to know definitely at what period of cutting 

 the largest yield per acre of dried hay can be ob- 

 tained, which will at the same time give us the largest 

 yield per acre of nutrients of the highest digestible 

 ratio. 



There has recently appeared a paper by President 

 H. J. Waters, of the Kansas Agricultural College, 

 entitled " The Influence of Maturity Upon the Value 

 of Timothy Hay,"* which is of great value to hay 

 growers and the results should be generally known. 

 The following is a review of President Waters' 

 experiments and results: 



Cuttings of hay were taken at five periods of 

 development : 



First cutting: When the plants were just in full 

 head, on the average about June 12. 



Second cutting: When the plants were in full 

 bloom (Fig. 96), about June 20. 



Third cutting: When the seeds were formed, or when the bloom had 

 all been shed, usually about July i. 



Fourth cutting: When the seeds were in the dough, about July 8. 



Fig. 96. — Timothy 

 head in full bloom 



* Waters, H. J. Proceedings of the 31st Annual Meeting of the Society for the Promotion of Agricultural 

 Science. 1911. Pp. 71-98. 



