112 ANIMAL MANAGEMENT. 



plants found in it should be recognisable by their form and not too 

 brittle and dusty. On opening a truss, the fibres of the stalks should not 

 be much tangled, but should lie more or less in parallel bundles, showing 

 that it has not been necessary to unduly toss the crop while being made, 

 though this characteristic is not so much marked in hay that has been 

 machine tossed as in that turned by hand. There should be no suspicion 

 of must or mould, and not more than the merest trace of being 

 mowburnt. 

 Of In meadow hay there should be a large variety of well-grown, good 



meadow grasses, and but few useless grasses and weeds, though a proportion 

 ^y- . exists in all samples. In mixtures the grass and herbage should be 



Ot mixture l^x^^ant of their kind, and quite free from useless varieties, whilst hay 

 oTwater which has been grown on swampy meadows may be recognised by the 

 meadow proportion of water grasses and plants, their coarse growth and some- 

 hay, times pungent smell. The trade weight of a truss is 56 lbs. 

 Conditions The general quality and character of the sample is naturally affected 

 affecting by the soil on which it was produced, that from a poor soil being lighter 

 quality. jj^ bulk and shorter and smaller in the individual grasses than the same 

 Class of class from a richer neighbourhood. If grown on well cleaned land, there 

 land. -yy^i bg a comparative absence of all kinds of weed, while a crop that is 

 taken from park land or orchards will contain quantities of tree leaves 

 and be comparatively poorer in quality in proportion to the number of 

 Season. trees under which it has been grown. The season also has a marked 

 effect both on quantity and quality, a hot, dry spring and summer 

 resulting in a very light but well saved and fragrant crop ; and whilst rain 

 during the spring will naturally increase the bulk, its continuance through 

 Period at the summer foretells a heavy but indifferently saved yield. The period at 

 which cut. which the crop was cut is denoted by the presence or absence of flower 



and seed in the grass heads and by the woodiness of their stems. 

 After- Aftermath. — When there appears to be a chance of a second 



math. crop, the first cut is made at as early a date as possible, and the subsequent 



growth, which consists chiefly of leaves with few stems and flowering 

 heads, is called "aftermath," or "second cut"; it is soft and woolly to 

 the feel, without aroma, and of inferior feeding value. 

 Substance. Substance. — The feel when handled should be crisp and firm, but not too 

 woody, though this \vill naturally vary with the particular variety under 

 consideration, meadow hay being finer and softer than a mixture of rye, 

 grass and clover, while this again may seem fine when compared with a 

 sample of sainfoin. On the other hand, it should on no account be 

 without some substance and firmness, lack of which is characteristic of 

 second cuts. 



