FORAGE. 49 



A proportion of herbage, that is of plants (not weeds) other than grass, 

 IS desirable. The different kinds of clover, especially white or Dutch, 

 and the other varieties of trefoils, constitute the great mass of good up- 

 land herbage. These plants are generally abundant where the soil on 

 which the crop is grown is good. Herbage makes the hay sweet and 

 palatable. Hay composed only of the best grasses is not relished so well 

 as when mixed with a proportion of herbage. 



N.B.— Herbage is a conventional name for plants other than grasses 

 (not weeds) in hay. In a botanical point of view the name is not 

 strictly correct, as all grass is herbage. 



A mixture of weeds in hay is objectionable. 



The presence of flowers which have not lost their colour, such as butter- 

 cups and the flowers of trefoil and clover, is always an item of value in 

 hay, as it shows that the crop has been cut early in the season, before 

 the grasses have lost their juices and nutriment. A similar favourable 

 indication is given by certain early grasses, such as sweet vernal (No. 6), 

 being still in flower, i. e. not run to seed. 



Hay from artificial grass, if early cut, well made, and not over-heated, 

 IS suitable for horses. Most samples are, however, deficient in aroma. 

 Rye-grass is most commonly grown for this piu-pose ; but the farmer, 

 solicitous to obtain quantity, too often delays cutting until the grass is 

 m seed, and the quality of the crop is then reduced. 



To recapitulate. The characteristics of the best hay are cleanness, 

 firmness, crispness, and green colour, delicacy in taste, aroma, and 

 appearance, the presence of flowers of their natural colour, the presence 

 of numerous grasses, with sweet vernal and other eariy grasses in flower, 

 and a proportion of good herbage. 



Brightness of colour is an essential requisite as regards market value, 

 but many samples of inferior colour possess no other actual inferiority. 



Hay should be one year old. It is then at its best. The author does 

 not l)elieve that hay is improved by keeping for three or four years. 



83. 0/ inferior and had iqdand hay. 



Upland hay, though as a rule superior to lowland hay, may be good, 

 inferior, or bad of the sort. 



_ The best gi-asses grow only on good soils. The goodness of any soil 

 IS, however, largely dependent on manure being duly supplied. The 

 best natural soil will seldom nourish the best grasses year after year 

 without renovation by manure. Without proper dressing, the grasses 

 become poor and thin, or very fine and wanting in firmness. The soil, in 

 fact, has become exhausted, the fibres of its grasses become attenuated, 

 and the hay is soft and silk-like. The herbage also in such cases is 

 generally deficient. Such very fine hay, though perfectly wholesome, is 

 not nutritious, and is therefore unfit for horses doing fast work. The 

 want of herbage is, however, often remedied by sowing clover in the 

 autumn. 



Good upland soils, properly cared for, produce the best grasses in the 



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