38 THE FORAGE AND FIBER CROPS IN AMERICA 



the maintenance of cattle or an increase in weight could be 

 secured so cheaply as by exclusive pasturage during the best 

 of the grazing season upon good pastures fully but not over 

 stocked. If profit is to be had where grain is fed cattle on 

 pasture, especially if the grain given be unground, it is essential 

 to have pigs follow the cattle. 1 Milch cows on pasture may 

 require additional food throughout the season. The Penn- 

 sylvania Station found that where, in the early season, enough 

 stock was put on pasture to keep the grass cropped short, the 

 pasture became insufficient, and beginning with August addi- 

 tional feed was necessary. 2 



36. Time of Harvesting. The proper time to harvest hay is 

 manifestly when the largest quantity of the best quality can be 

 secured, provided the expense is not thereby increased. The 

 quantity may be sacrificed to improve quality. Quality may be 

 sacrificed to increase the yield or to decrease the expense in 

 harvesting. The expense and risk of securing timothy may be 

 greater if it is cut early, as it requires more handling and 

 longer exposure in curing than if cut late. 



If hay is to be marketed, it is important to distinguish be- 

 tween food value and market value. A ton of early cut hay may 

 contain more valuable nutrients than a ton of late cut hay. As a 

 food for milch cows the former would doubtless be better than 

 the latter. Yet the later cut timothy hay may have the higher 

 market value. Growth signifies an increase of weight. A crop 

 of grass increases in weight of dry substance until it is ripe. 

 There may be a greater loss in weight in the matured plant 

 from the loss of seed, in the case of timothy, or in the loss of 

 leaves and finer parts in the case of clover, than if cut earlier. 

 When ripe, the hay is practically straw. 



1 Illinois Sta. Bui. No. 9 (1890), pp. 319-25. 



2 Pennsylvania Sta. Rpt. (1889), pp. 97-101. 



