133 



PART II 



AGRICULTURAL SECTION 

 CHAPTER VIII 



THE AGRICULTURAL VALUE AND CHARACTERISTICS 

 OF THE GRASSES SOWN ON THE FARM 



The agricultural value of any fodder plant is not an easy 

 matter to decide since it is affected by so many different cir- 

 cumstances. Other things being equal it will of course depend 

 upon (1) the Yielding Capacity of the plant, and (2) the Nutritive 

 Value of its produce. But both these factors are extremely 

 variable. 



The yield is obviously partly correlated with the relative size 

 of the plant, and also partly with its capacity to re-start growth 

 immediately after being grazed or cut. But the yield of the 

 same species varies so greatly with the soil and other circum- 

 stances that it is impossible here to do more than indicate what 

 the relative productiveness is when the plants are grown under 

 the most suitable conditions. This is approximately given in 

 Table II, on p. 175. 



With regard to the important question of the nutritive value 

 of our grasses we must admit that at present our knowledge is 

 most inadequate. Although a considerable number of chemical 

 analyses of the separate species have been made, they have, 

 unfortunately, not been carried out with sufficient uniformity to 

 render the results strictly comparable. 



The composition of plants varies so considerably with the 

 different stages of their development, and also probably with the 



