84 



Missouri Agricultural Report. 



4. PALATABILITY OF HAYS CUT AT DIFFERENT STAGES OF MATURITY. 



The notion is somewhat prevalent that the late cut hays are 

 more palatable than those cut earlier, and that if cattle, horses or 

 sheep were given the opportunity to choose among these cuttings 

 they would manifest a decided preference for the maturer hay. 





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SHOWING HOW CATTLE PREFER TIMOTHY THAT IS CUT EARLY. 



T!ie top picture shows the racks filled, 100 lbs. in each. Beginning at the left with the green 

 cut haj\ The lower row shows how it was eaten out of the racks. 



To settle this question, we put an equal amount, viz., 100 pounds, of 

 each cutting in a long rack, and gave two yearling steers that were 

 being fed exclusively on timothy hay free access to the rack. Only 

 two animals were used, because we wanted to avoid any possibility 

 of crowding and of the stronger animals forcing the weaker ones 

 to eat hay that they might otherwise have discriminated against. 

 This experiment was continued through two years, all of the 

 cuttings having been harvested and cured without rain, and stored 

 in a bam until required for this trial. 



