98 



EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



although promising well for certain localities, have not yet been grown 

 for a sufficient length of time to determine their true value for general 

 cultivation. 



ANALYSES OF SOUTHERN GROWN FORAGE PLANTS. 



In (connection with the work done in the fields, chemical analyses 

 have been made of freshly gathered samples of all the more important 

 S])ecie8, and of many species several analyses have been made from 

 samples gathered at different periods of growth. All of the analyses 

 reported here have been made from samples taken on the grounds of 

 the Mississippi Station, and nearly all of the work has been done by 

 L. G. Patterson, the chemist of that station. 



In order to facilitate comparisons of these with the same species 

 when groAvn in Northern States he has compiled the averages of the 

 iS^orthern-grown samples, as reported by Jenkins and Winton in Bulle- 

 tin 11, Office of Experiment Stations, and included them in the table 

 at the end of this article. 



A comparison of the Northern and Southern grown hays shows very 

 clearly the larger proportions of protein and fats (ether extract) con- 

 tained in many of the latter, and their consequent superiority for feed- 

 ing purposes. It is a well-known fact that as hay plants become ohler 

 the proportion of crude fiber is increased at the expense of the more 

 valuable ^n'oteiu and carbohydrates. As a rule the Northern meadows 

 are mowed but once during a season, while those of the South are 

 usually mowed two or three times, so that the season of growth for 

 each crop of the Southern hays is really shorter than for those of the 

 North, a condition which renders superior the quality of the former. 

 A comparison of the composition of 9 leguminous plants grown North 

 and South was made. The following table contains a list of the 8 

 leguminous jilants that afforded a larger percentage of protein when 

 grown in the South than when grown farther North : 



rrotein in Sonlhern and Northern ijrown legmnitious jjlants. 



Cowpea ( Dvlichos iiiieiisis) J 



Alfalfa {Medicatjo sativa) J 



Bokhara clover (Melilotun alba) i 



Soja bean {Soja h ispida) J 



Ked clover (Trifolium pratense) j 



White clover {T. repenn) J 



Hairy vetch ( Yuia viUosa) J 



Alsike clover {Trifolium hyhridum) \ 



The only leguminous plant in which analysis showed a higher protein 

 content of Northern than of Southern grown was the common vetch 

 {Vicia sativa). In 3 analyses of Northern-grown plants Vicia sativa 



