Vermont Agricultural, Report. 76 



value. Now the rate of digestibility is controlled more by the 

 stage of development when the hay is harvested, than by any 

 other factor. Soon after the plant passes the blossoming stage 

 its energies are bent toward the work of seed production. Dur- 

 ing this same period the stem and leaf rapidly become hard and 

 woody. The seed, if allowed to develop before cutting the grass, 

 probably adds nothing to the value of the hay, as the small hard 

 seeds are often shaken off in harvesting and if harvested are 

 probably not masticated nor digested by the cattle. 



Another factor to be considered is the higher degree of 

 palatability of the early-cut hay. Animals do not thrive well on 

 feed which they do not like. It is important that all foods should 

 be relished by the animal if good results from their use are to 

 be expected. There is still another factor affecting the feeding 

 value which should not be overlooked, which is the labor of di- 

 gestion. In the digestion of any food a certain part of its energy 

 must be used to digest or make available the food nutrients. 

 Whatever energy goes to the labor of digestion leaves so much 

 less to go toward the building up of rnilk and flesh. The larger 

 the tax on the energy of the food to carry on the labor of di- 

 gestion the smaller will be the amount available for building up 

 new products. It naturally follows then that early-cut hays will 

 show a larger amount of available food nutrients than the late- 

 cut. Some recent German experiments have shown that lo to 12 

 percent of the total energy represented in tough woody fodders 

 was expended in the work of digestion. Of course the energy so 

 used is of no value for the direct production of that for which 

 the animal may be kept, whether it be milk, meat or labor. 



In addition to the three forms of loss in allowing grasses 

 and clovers to become over-ripe, there is another in the case of 

 some kinds of cured fodders, that is a tendency to the loss of the 

 finer parts in drying. Clovers especially are more liable to lose 

 their leaves during the process of drying, if the crop is allowed 

 to stand until clover heads begin to turn brown. 



HARVESTING AND CURING. 



With the improved machinery now available for handling 

 the hay crop there is little excuse for allowing the haying to drag 

 for the greater part of the summer season. It is true that the 

 labor of caring for the crop is greater when early cut, but this 

 is more than counterbalanced by the higher quality of the fodder. 

 Two days drying is ample when the weather is good, and where 

 the hay is cut in the afternoon it can often be cured the follow- 

 ing day. If there is no adhering moisture the hay may be stored 

 when it seems quite green. The natural water of the crop will 



