Vermont Agricultural Report. 69 



DIGESTIBILITY 0? EARLY AND LATE-CUT HAY. 



The following table shows how the time of cutting affects 

 the rate of digestibility. From this table it will be seen that the 

 average percentage digestibility of the various nutrients in late- 

 cut timothy is 5 to 13 percent lower than in early-cut timothy. 

 The low rate of digestibility in the late cut hay is due to the 

 storing up of tough woody fibre as the plant advances toward the 

 stage of seed maturity. This woody material is much less digest- 

 ible than the soft succulent cellulose, which is the form the woody 

 fibre takes in the earlier stages of plant growth. The tough, 

 woody fibre also encases the protein, starch and other food nutri- 

 ents in the late-cut hay and prevents their being readily acted 

 upon by the digestive processes. 



DIGESTIBILITY OF TIMOTHY HAY, EARLY AND LATE-CUT. 



Organic 

 Conditions Matter 



of Cutting Percent 



Early cut . .61.0 

 Full bloom . . 67.0 

 Past bloom. .56.0 

 Two weeks 



past 52.0 



Late cut . . . 59.0 

 Average of two 

 lots "early cut' 



(a) 64.0 59.5 54.5 68.0 60.5 



Average of three 



lots "late cut" 



(b) 55-5 46.5 49-0 61.0 49.0 



HOW MAY WE IMPROVE OUR HOME GROWN EODDER ? 



There are two methods for improving the quality of our 

 home grown dairy feeds. First, by selecting and growing the 

 kinds of crops best adapted for feeding dairy stock, and second, 

 by so growing and handling these crops as to improve their feed- 

 ing value. A prominent dairyman from the central west has 

 recently been visiting his birthplace in the East, and after his 

 return home was asked, "What is the greatest drawback to the 

 agriculture of your native state?" His reply was, "Too much 

 timothy hay." Although this statement may be overdrawn, it 

 is certainly true that timothy hay is being depended upon too 

 much as a coarse fodder for dairy stock. While timothy is valu- 



u" 



