58 THE SCIENTIFIC FEEDING OF ANIMALS 



and fat than the first-crop or regular hay. But since harvest conditions 

 (weather) are frequently less favorable for second-crop hay, it is not 

 unusual that the difference in quality is reversed in this respect. Second- 

 crop hay may be recognized by the usual absence of flowering parts and 

 the presence of late flowering herbs (Geranium, Sanfuisorba, Euphrasia, 

 Briinella, Heracleum, Colchicum, etc., and in the United States, Ambrosia 

 (rag weed), Alopecurus and corresponding weeds and grasses. 



The value of meadow hay and second-crop hay depends upon their 

 botanical composition. The more delicate and tender or the less woody 

 the sweet grasses are, the greater their value for hay. On the other hand, 

 the presence of any of the many species of sour grasses or of Molinia 

 arriilea (Europe), a sweet or true grass with properties of the sedges 

 and rushes, or an admixture of scouring rushes or horsetails is objec- 

 tionable. The sour grasses, provided they have not grown on soil of a 

 saline character (seacoast) when fed to sheep in quantity (admixed with 

 hay) are said to produce anemia. In cattle they are reputed to have an 

 unfavorable efifect on the digestive functions, the general condition, and 

 milk secretion. 



According to the presence or absence of the sour grasses in meadow 

 hay we distinguish (a) sweet and (b) sour meadow hay. 



The chemical composition of the different varieties of hay as far as 

 the important nutrients are concerned varies between a 2.5 and 6.5 per 

 cent digestible albumen content, and a starch value of 19.0 to 40.5 per cent. 



An ordinary chemical analysis, as a rule, throws little light upon the 

 real value of any particular kind of hay. Thus A. Mayer found that 

 good meadow hay (Poa pratensis, June grass) contained 6.5 per cent 

 digestible albumen, while the common sedge (Carex vulgaris) contained 

 12.2 per cent. Their actual nutritive value is just the reverse of what 

 this analysis would indicate. Low-grade hay is generally poor in mineral 

 matter and rich in crude fiber, good hay rich in mineral matter. Alpine 

 hay usually has a high fat content (2.1 per cent). 



In fudging hay it is not sufficient to confine the examination to a hand- 

 ful removed from a bale. Many samples should be taken and a number 

 of bales opened and spread out to view. Adulterated hay may often be 

 recognized by the different colored contents of a bale, or by the presence 

 of plants of different origin, e. g., good meadow hay mixed with sour 

 grasses or mosses, etc. 



The value of hay depends upon its botanical composition. An abun- 

 dance of Leguminosae in a mixed hay and the absence of sour grasses 

 and related plants is an indication of good quality and high value. A 

 botanical analysis, which may be limited to the identification of the four 

 groups — sweet grasses, Leguminosae, sour grasses and foreign matter — 

 provides a better basis for the judging of quality and value than a chemi- 

 cal determination of the nutrients. Packed dried leaves should be placed 

 in warm water and allowed to soften. They may then be spread out and 

 examined and their identity determined. 



