Results and Discussion 



The effect of cutting date on nutrient composition is shown in Table 

 1 and the nutrient digestibility and nutritive value data are presented in 

 Table 2. 



Table 1 

 Effect of cutting dale on dry matter composition of redtop hay. 



Composition and yield 



There were slight year differences in the proximate nutrients of the 

 hays. One of the reasons for this difference could have been the severe 

 drought experienced during the latter part of the 1963 growing season. 

 The 1963 hay appeared stemmy and the plants were stunted. This obser- 

 vation was supported by the higher fiber and lower protein content com- 

 pared to that of corresponding hays in 1964. Mean first-cutting yield in 

 1963 was about 3.9 T/a and in 1964, 2.3 T/a. The 1964 aftermath yielded 

 only 0.6 T/a. Part of the year difference in first-cutting mean yields may 

 be explained by the fact that different plots were used in the two years. 



