THE SMALLER GRASSES STRAW HAY-MAKING 207 



total yield of both protein .and dry matter is secured if the grass is not 

 cut until nearly mature. Thus, when grass is cut for hay at the usual 

 stage, more feed is usually secured per acre than if the same field were 

 grazed by stock. The reason why pasture is so economical as a feed for 

 livestock is not that more feed is secured from a given area, but that 

 there is a great saving in labor of harvesting the crop and feeding the 

 stock. 



As an example of the relative yields of pasture and hay, data secured 

 by Crozier at the Michigan Station 2 are of interest. He cut growing 

 timothy 8 times from one plat, while on another he cut it and cured it 

 into hay after making full growth. The hay from the frequently-cut 

 grass was about 3 times as rich in crude protein as that from the nearly 

 mature grass, but almost 4 times as much total dry matter and also the 

 greatest total yield of protein was secured when the grass was approach- 

 ing maturity. 



311. Bluegrass. Kentucky bluegrass, or June grass, easily ranks first 

 for lawn and pasture in the northeastern United States. By its 

 persistence it often drives out other grasses and clovers from the 

 meadows and pastures. The fact that bluegrass is one of the richest 

 of grasses in digestible protein helps explain the fondness for it shown 

 by stock. Differing from most grasses of the humid regions, mature 

 dried bluegrass is quite readily grazed by animals, thus resembling 

 some of the grasses of the western ranges. 



With the coming of spring, bluegrass pushes forward so vigorously 

 that early in May the fields bear a thick, nutritious carpet of green. 

 With seed bearing, the plant's energies become exhausted, and blue- 

 grass enters a period of rest which lasts several weeks, and if a mid- 

 summer drought occurs the plants turn brown and appear to be dying. 

 However, they quickly revive with the coming of the fall rains, and 

 each plant is once more busy gathering nourishment for the coming 

 season's seed bearing. The observant stockman soon learns the folly 

 of relying on bluegrass pasture for a steady and uniform feed supply 

 for his cattle thruout the season. Accordingly, he understocks the 

 pasture in spring so that the excess of herbage during May and June 

 may remain to be drawn upon during the mid-summer dormant period, 

 or he fully stocks it and makes up the later shortage by supplying 

 silage or soilage. In a few districts it has been found profitable to graze 

 bluegrass pastures lightly or not at all in summer, and allow the self- 

 cured herbage to stand for winter grazing. Because of its low, carpet- 

 like growth, bluegrass is primarily a pasture, rather than a hay grass. 



312. Timothy. The acreage of timothy in the United States nearly 

 equals that of all other cultivated hay plants combined, including 

 clover and alfalfa. This cool-weather grass is of especial importance 

 in the northeastern states, where it furnishes probably three-fourths 

 of all hay marketed in the cities. The popularity of timothy is due 



Mich. Bui. 141. 



