76 VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 



cured hut not dried to death. Keep your hay mows level and 

 trodden compactly as each load goes to the bay. Fill each hay 

 receptacle as rapidly and as quickly as possible ; close your win- 

 dows and barn doors every night, and let them be open as short 

 a time as may be during any part of the day and your herd will 

 make their lowest bow at the aproach of feed time, your income 

 will be greater, your family happier and contentment with your 

 calling will be your abiding guest. 



The importance of curing hay, the effect upon its digesti- 

 bility by drying cannot be to well understood, or too impressive- 

 ly stated. Upon this point Prof. H. P. Armsby most truly says : 

 " The digestibility of the organic constitutents of a fodder is in 

 no way altered by simply drying in the air, provided it is ex- 

 ecuted without loss of parts of the plants. The ordinary method 

 of making hay involves a great loss of leaves, and the product 

 suffers not only in quality, but in its digestibility as well." 



QUALITY AND TIME OF CUTTING. 



Quality of hay may be effected very considerable by the 

 condition and fertility of the soil, as established by abundance 

 of experimental evidence. Fertile soils add nutrition to all 

 forage crops. 



Practice, scientific experimental work, common sense, and 

 nature herself all combine their testimony in favor of the super- 

 iority of early cut hay, other things being equal, to late cut, in 

 respect to its composition and digestibility. The scientist on 

 every hand tells us that young grasses while rapidly growing 

 contain more protein, (the quality most valuable and rare), and 

 less fibre than more mature ones, consequently early cut hay 

 must be of better quality than when cut late. It is more digest- 

 ible. 



We are advisedly admonished that grass in ripening trans- 

 mits a large part of its protein and starch from the leaves and 

 stem to the seeds, which are seldom, if ever masticated or 

 digested. 



Generally they are lost in curing. In the language of the 

 scientist, "The hay made from fully ripe grass is essentially 

 straw. ' ' Since science confirms what practice has found to be true 

 relative to the value of early and late cut hay, let no farmer in 

 Vermont rest content until his hay crop is improved in quality, 

 and doubled in quantity. His first crop secured in June, the se- 

 cond in August or September filling his barn to overflowing with 

 sweet succulent grass, nutritious, palatable, and digestible, re- 

 membering that grass, is only another name for beef, mutton, 

 butter cheese, food and raiment. 



"Then learn to toil and gaily .sing 

 All flesh is grass, ancTgrass is king." 



