VALUE OF HAY 2&5 



Timothy is usually ready to cut for hay in July, when 

 the best conditions are presented for hay making. The 

 plants cure readily and there is ordinarily Httle loss from 

 injury by rain or dew. Little or no extra labor is required 

 in the curing of the hay. It seldom needs to be turned with 

 the tedder or put into cocks for curing, practically as good 

 results being obtained when it is cured in the swath and 

 hauled immediatel}^ to the barn or stack. A few hours are 

 usually ample to cure the hay sufficiently for storing. 



377. Value of the Hay. The prominence of timothy as a 

 hay grass is due largely to the ease with which it can be cured, 

 the certainty of getting a catch, the yields of hay it pro- 

 duces, and the cheapness of the seed. It is not particularly 

 high in feeding value, though the fact that it can be fed 

 with little waste and that all classes of animals eat it readily 

 makes it a general favorite on the market. Timothy hay 

 usually contains about 6.2 per cent of protein, 45 per cent of 

 carbohydrates, 2.5 per cent of fat, and 29.9 per cent of crude 

 fiber. Only about half this food material is ordinarily 

 digestible. Timothy is somewhat lower in protein than 

 most of the other grasses, but is about equal to them in 

 other food materials. (Section 330). 



378. Pasturing. Although timothy is not adapted to 

 use as a pasture grass, and though meadows of it are often 

 seriously injured for hay production by pasturing, this grass 

 is often used for pasture purposes. It is rather a common 

 practice to cut hay from a timothy and clover meadow for 

 one or two seasons and then to pasture it for a year or more 

 before breaking up the sod to plant some annual crop. 

 While more pasturage could be obtained from any one of 

 several other crops, this practice is a convenient one and 

 probably will continue to prevail. Where the meadow land 

 is to be pastured for a year or more, it is well to add small 

 quantities of seed of some of the more permanent pasture 

 plants, such as Kentucky blue grass, brome grass, and white 



