FOODS AND FEEDING. II3 



Dust. — Old samples may be somewhat dusty, dust in hay being an Dust, 

 invariable accompaniment of age ; it is increased by the crop having 

 been cut too late and so being extra dry, by unduly long exposure to 

 the sun, or by the hei-bage having been rendered brittle as the result of 

 being weathered during making ; and whilst good old hay is invariably 

 slightly dusty, it may be taken that very dusty samples have originally 

 suftered from one of the above causes. 



Colour. — The colour of hay may vary from greenish to light brown. Colour, 

 but it should not be yellow or dark brown, nor should the stems of the 

 grasses be spotted by blight. Meadow hay is generally of a greener 

 tint than artificial mixtures, since it is usually a lighter crop composed of 

 finer, quicker drying plants, and therefore easier to save. Colour lasts 

 longest in flowering heads and grass stems, and fades quickest in broad 

 succulent leaves of various kinds of herbage and some weeds ; it dis- 

 appears slowly with age, but should be fairly preserved at one year ; 

 rain washes it out very rapidly, and a heavy shower may convert a crop 

 from green to pale brow^n. 



Mowbumt Hay. — If carried before the juicy stems of the grasses are Mowburnt 

 sufficiently dried up, the subsequent fermentation (" heating ") in the ^^y- 

 stack produces such great heat, especially towards the centre, that the hay 

 m.ay be charred, or the rick may even catch fire. When the condition is, 

 however, very slightly marked, it merely imparts a brown tinge to the 

 sample, which also acquires a svv'cet and somewhat pungent smell, both 

 conditions being in proportion to the extent of the heating. In very 

 slight degree it is no drawback to the quality, and is, as a matter of 

 fact, much relished by horses ; indeed, what w^e should call slightly 

 mowburnt hay is in some parts of Europe made purposely under the Brown 

 name of "brown hay"; but if the condition is at all pronounced it ^^y- 

 becomes unfit for consumption, is often refused by the animal, or if 

 partaken of may induce a simple form of diabetes. 



Musiy and Mouldy Hay. — Although it may have been quite dry as Musty and 

 regards the juice contained in the grasses, hay which is stacked damp mouldy 

 from rain or subsequently wetted, is likely to turn musty, and if the y* 

 dampness is pronounced, to become mouldy ; musty hay is sometimes a 

 dark brown colour and sometimes a bright yellow, has a characteristic 

 unpleasant odour and a bitter taste, in spite of which, if it is not very 

 badly affected, horses may eat it, though as a food it is naturally inferior 

 in proportion as the condition is marked. When mould is visible it 

 appears as light or white patches here and there in the truss, and the 

 surrounding portions are generally deep brown or black in colour ; it is 

 naturally unfit for fodder. Both mustiness and mouldiness may be found 

 (b 10948) H 



