COARSE DRY FODDERS 261 



but the more nearly it is approached the better. Such hay 

 is clean, nearly free from dust when shaken, of a light green 

 colour, and has a pleasant aroma. Hay which has been 

 weathered and become dusty (mouldy) can be rendered 

 palatable to the animals by steaming. 



Hays made from other plants, e.g. clovers, lucerne, etc. 

 exhibit certain more or less characteristic differences of com- 

 position and digestibility. They are, however, all subject to 

 variation from the causes mentioned above. 



Cereal Straws and Chaff. Cereals are annuals. A large 

 proportion of the nutrient material that is accumulated in the 

 stems by the processes of vegetation is transferred to the 

 ears at the time of seed formation, and when the crop is cut 

 the straw is to a large extent exhausted. It consists mainly 

 of cellulose, much of which is highly lignined. The other 

 constituents which remain are probably less susceptible to 

 chemical change, and, therefore, less easily digestible than 

 those which have been withdrawn. It is obvious that the 

 straw of plants which have produced ripe seeds cannot be 

 of great nutritive value. 



Any circumstances which interfere with the ripening of the 

 grain, such as bad seasons, or the breaking of the straw when 

 it is laid by rain and wind, necessarily tend to prevent the 

 transference of the nutrient matters to the seeds, and so leave 

 the straw of greater nutritive value. The lower sections of 

 the straw are stouter and coarser than the upper portions. 

 They contain more fibre and a smaller proportion of nutrient 

 substances, and the latter are less readily digestible. When 

 animals are given a quantity of long straw as fodder, they 

 generally exhibit a marked preference for the upper ends, and 

 not infrequently refuse to eat the lower portions. 



It would not be advisable, however, even if it were 

 practicable, to cut off the upper half of the straw and use that 

 only as fodder. The grass and weeds of various kinds, which 

 are usually present in considerable quantity, are mixed with 

 the lower ends of the straw, and these are of greater nutritive 

 value than the straw itself. In composition they resemble 

 a kind of coarse meadow hay. 



