SWEET GRASSES 47 



grasses are good maintenance or supporting feeds for mature horses as 

 well as for horses two or three years of age ; they produce a rounded out, 

 smooth, thrifty appearance. The ration is 80 to 100 lbs. per day. All 

 horses do well on small quantities admixed with other feeding stuffs. The 

 amount to be fed depends upon the character of work performed by the 

 animal. Care should be observed at all times in changing from one kind 

 of forage to another. 



For ruminants the green meadow grasses are an excellent forage 

 under the most varied conditions, whether intended either for mere main- 

 tenance rations or for active production. Mature cattle require 1-00 to 

 160 lbs. per day, sheep 8 to 15 lbs. One hectare (2}^ acres) of the best 

 quality bottom land pasture will support three cows, whereas the same 

 area on poor soil will hardly suffice to support one. 



The meadow grasses are not suitable as exclusive feed for swine. As a 

 main ration, supplem.ented with some other feed, they are generally given 

 to growing stock hogs, and as a rule with good results. As a supple- 

 mentary feed they are excellent for swine in all conditions. Chaffing 

 and cooking or steaming is advantageous. 



The pasturing of meadows has a chemical as well as a botanical effect on plant 

 growth as compared with that of meadows not pastured. 



Various herbaceous plants, especially most species of clovers, are injured by the 

 frequently repeated removal of their leaves and stems, gradually dying out and 

 giving place to other species. Since the metabolic processes of plant life take place 

 principally or entirely in the leaves (and all chlorophyl-bearing parts), their fre- 

 quent removal prevents the full utilization of sunlight and heat as compared with 

 plants that are deprived of these parts for organs) by cutting only two or three 

 times during the season. The latter have more time to develop "assimilating sur- 

 faces." This is the reason or explanation of the fact that the product from pas- 

 tured meadows as measured in terms of total dry matter is reduced about 33 percent 

 by the thorough and frequent removal of the leaves and green stems of the plants. 

 On the other hand, the total weight of the green forage obtained is in excess of 

 that obtained under other conditions, because of the richer water content of the 

 young growth. Pasture grass furthermore differs from "harvested" grass in its 

 greater content of mineral matter. 



Pasture grass in general has a high water content (83 percent). The dry matter 

 is rich in crude proteids, the latter including large amounts of nonalbuminous nitro- 

 gen-containing substances (amids). The crude fiber content is low and the fiber 

 not woody. Lime and phosphoric acid are present in relatively large amounts. 



Mowed or harvested meadow grass is rich in nitrogen-free extract and crude 

 fiber and comparatively poor in crude protein. 



The cultivated field grasses (rye grass, timothy, orchard grass and fes- 

 cue, and also the millets and maba or Setaria italica) produce a less palat- 

 able (but equally nutritious) feed than the meadow grasses. 



Green rye, oats, wheat and barley are sometimes used as green feeds. 

 Rye and wheat are cut before the appearance of the heads, barley (on 

 account of the objectionalle awns^) is cut at a still earlier stage. Oats 



"Barley should therefore, if possible, be cut before the development of the awns, because 

 the latter, according to investigations of Johne, Bostroem and others, are frequently the means 

 of conveying the infection of Actinomyces bovis. Their peculiar structure makes these awns 

 an ideal inoculating needle. They pierce the mucous membranes of the tongue, cheeks, pharynx 

 and esophagus and introduce the fungus in question into the tissues. Infection of_ this 

 character is most common in cattle and appears sporadically, or on rarer occasions enzootically 

 (Western Prussia, Upper Palatinate, etc., also Western and Southwestern States of the 

 U. S.). It most frequently attacks the maxillary bones and is then popularly known as 

 lumpy jaw. 



