32 THE FEEDING OF ANIMALS 



40. Effect of stage of growth on water-content. 

 Immature plants contain more water than older or mature 

 ones. Young pasture grass is more largely water than the 

 same plants would be after the seed is formed. This fact 

 is consistent with the very rapid transference of building- 

 material during the active stages of growth. Analyses of 

 samples of timothy grass cut at the Maine State College, 

 in 1879, and at the Pennsylvania State College, in 1881, 

 show the marked influence of the stage of growth on 

 the water-content of the living plant: 



TABLE VII. TIMOTHY 

 Maine State College P 5watJ? 



Nearly headed out 78.7 



In full blossom 71.9 



Out of blossom 65.2 



Nearly ripe 63.3 



Pennsylvania State College Percentage of water 



Highly No 



manured manure 



Cut June 6, heads just appearing . . . 79.7 76.5 

 Cut June 23, just beginning to bloom . 69.7 69.1 

 Cut July 5, somewhat past full bloom . 61.4 60. 



What is true of timothy is probably true of all forage 

 crops in the perfectly fresh state. We have here an expla- 

 nation of the difficulty of curing early cut grass. When 

 the farmer begins haying, at least two drying days are 

 needed in order to secure a product that will not ferment 

 in the mow, while later in the season, grass cut in the 

 morning may be safely stored in the mow before night. 

 At the Maine State College, in 1880, immature timothy 

 grass lost 56.7 per cent weight in curing and the ripe 

 grass only 12.9 per cent. The extreme succulence of 

 immature corn and other crops previous to the formation 

 of seed is a fact which the dairyman who feeds soiling- 



