258 THE CHEMISTRY OF CATTLE FEEDING 



to this material. When any other kind is in question it is 

 generally specified as " clover hay," " lucerne hay," etc. 



A distinction of some importance is generally drawn 

 between seed hay and meadow hay. The former is produced 

 from seed sown the same year. It generally consists wholly, 

 or mainly, of a single variety of grass. Rye grass is the 

 commonest, but timothy, dog's-tail, and other varieties are 

 sometimes grown. Owing to the conditions under which 

 the grass is grown, seed hay consists mainly of stems with 

 a comparatively small proportion of leaf and little or no 

 undergrowth.. It is, therefore, generally rather coarse, i.e. 

 fibrous and indigestible. A richer, softer, more digestible 

 fodder could be obtained by cutting the grass at an earlier 

 stage of growth, but the total crop would be smaller. Seed 

 hay is generally cut at or about the time of flowering. The 

 differences in chemical composition of the varieties of grass 

 commonly cultivated are so small that they cannot be re- 

 garded as characteristic. At all events, they are completely 

 obscured by the variations due to the influence of climate, 

 season, soil manuring, and such like accidental circumstances. 



Meadow hay, the dried produce of an old lea, differs from 

 seed hay in several important particulars. The herbage is 

 made up of many different varieties of grass, and usually 

 also plants belonging to the leguminosae, composite, ranun- 

 culacese, and other orders. These various kinds of plants 

 develop at different rates, and do not, therefore, all come 

 to maturity at the same time. The crop is generally cut about 

 the time when the principal grasses are at the stage of flower. 

 These grasses then have long stems and they exhibit generally 

 much the- same properties as those of which seed hay is 

 composed. There is, however, always a larger or smaller 

 proportion of immature, leafy undergrowth, both from the 

 grasses proper, and from plants of other orders. This under- 

 growth is richer in nitrogenous matter, less fibrous, and more 

 digestible in character. In fact, it more nearly resembles 

 pasture grass in composition and properties. The total 

 amount and relative proportion of this undergrowth depend 

 upon the kind of plants of which the herbage is made up, 



