810 



IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



TIME TO CUT HAY. 



PEOF. W. J. KENNEDY OF IOWA EXPERIMENT .STATION IN BREEDEE'S GAZETTE 



Answering the inquiry: 



"When is the best time to cut timothy and clover to make hay for 

 stock feeding? At what period in its growth is it likely to have the most 

 nourishment after it is cured? If the gi-ass is allowed to become too ripe 

 before cutting, do we lose much of its net value, energy and tissue mak- 

 ing properties as a food?" I would say: 



That a large number of farmers lose a considerable portion of the 

 feeding value of their timothy and clover, due to cutting either too early 

 or too late, cannot be questioned. From the standpoint of stock feed- 

 ing, the period of growth which furnishes the greatest amount of dry 

 matter in the hay per acre may not be the most profitable time to cut 

 it. In addition to the question of total quantity, both the palatability 

 and the digestibility of the food must be given due consideration, the 

 former influencing, as it does, the amount consumed and the readiness 

 with which the animal will eat the food being thus responsible for 

 waste that is left in the feed rack; while the latter controls, in a mea- 

 sure at least, the amount consumed by the animal, which is digested and 

 capable of absorption, and so used in the maintenance and building up 

 of th» system. 



The best time to cut either timothy or clover hay for stock purposes 

 is at that period in the growth when the greatest amount of digestible 

 dry matter can be obtained in its most palatable form. Total dry matter 

 alone is not a safe guide, as the results of several tests indicate very 

 clearly that while the total amount of dry matter in timothy may 

 increase from the period of full bloom until dead ripe, the digestibility 

 of the same is markedly lower, and the palatability of the food almost 

 entirely gone. With clover hay the total amount of dry matter does not 

 increase very much after full bloom, as in the process of curing a portion 

 of the leaves is lost and the more mature the plant the greater is this 

 loss. 



The following extended tests, an average of three years made at the 

 university of Maine with timothy hay, is worthy of study in this connec- 

 tion, as it exemplifies the changes in the different stages of the growth 

 of the plant, showing the yield of dry matter per acre: 



Stage of groicth. Yield per acre in lbs. 



Nearly in head 3.720 



Full bloom 4,072 



Out of bloom or nearly ripe 4,136 



Ripe 3,832 



While the total amount of dry matter per acre increased until the 

 timothy was nearly ripe, it does not follow that the food improved from 

 the standpoint of stock feeding. It is available food nutrients that are 



