122 SCIENTIFIC FEEDING OF ANIMALS 



Under the practical conditions of hay-making 

 further unavoidable loss occurs in the one instance 

 from the breaking off of parts of the plant and in 

 the other from the washing out of soluble nutrients 

 from the grass by rain. In the most favourable 

 harvest weather 10-20% of the dry matter is lost 

 during the making of the hay. As the fragments 

 which are broken off are the tenderest and contain 

 the least crude fibre, it is clear that the losses can 

 easily exceed those mentioned. To prevent the very 

 considerable losses which fodder plants undergo in 

 good weather, and still more so when rain falls, there 

 are various methods of making the withered grass 

 loosely into cocks. In some countries the partially 

 dried hay is heaped round a framework, and so a 

 larger surface is exposed to the air and wind, whilst 

 in case of rain the greater part runs off. The 

 drying of hay in such ways is preferable in the case 

 of clovers, lupines, and similar plants whose tender 

 leaves dry more rapidly than do the stems, and on 

 turning are more easily lost than is the case with 

 meadow plants. Experiments with red clover have 

 shown that in bad weather 25-2% of the dry sub- 

 stance was lost, and in good weather 16-4% where 

 the ordinary methods of hay-making were used, 

 whereas by drying in pyramid form on a framework 

 the loss was only 9-1%. 



From 100 parts of the crude protein present in 

 the fresh clover the loss was 18-1% where frames 



