PERENNIAL FOR AGE GRASSES 39 



A summary of experiments made in this country shows that 

 there is an appreciable increase of yield of the grasses from 

 the period of full bloom until seeds are formed. There is an 

 increase of all the food nutrients, but the increase is most 

 marked in the crude fiber, starch, sugar, and allied substances. 

 With timothy, orchard grass, and meadow fescue, an increase 

 of one-fourth, from the period of full bloom until seeds were 

 formed, has been found. With the clovers, there has been found 

 a decrease in all the nutrients, with the exception of crude 

 fiber, in which there is sometimes an appreciable increase. The 

 loss of the leaves and finer parts in handling while curing is 

 sometimes sufficient to render the clover hay well nigh worth- 

 less. There is both a loss of weight and a loss in quality. 



A farmer with 150 acres of hay to harvest cannot harvest 

 it all at the theoretically best time. If he sells part of his hay, 

 it is prudent to sell the later cut hay. It has less food value, 

 pound for pound, especially for growing stock and milch cows. 

 In many localities it has a greater market value. In such cases 

 it is usually intended for mature horses, for which purpose 

 it is better suited. 



37. Curing Hay. The aim in curing a fodder crop is to 

 preserve the* nutrients with the least loss and in as digestible 

 and palatable a form as may be. It is desired to secure bright, 

 clean hay. 



The quality may be reduced by direct washing and dissolving 

 by rains; by bleaching, through the alternate wetting by rains 

 and dews, just as linen is bleached; by becoming musty through 

 heating or fermentation ; or by the loss of the more delicate 

 and more valuable parts, as the leaves, when the hay is too 

 thoroughly dried. As before indicated, the latter is an important 

 reason why the quality of clover is improved by curing in 

 cocks. When it is spread thinly on the ground the leaves 

 become dry much sooner than the stems, and every time the 

 clover is handled the leaves are broken and lost. If, on the 



