THE DRY ROUGHAGES 207 



The Non-Legumes 

 The feeding value of non-legumes lies principally in their car- 

 bohydrate content. They are much lower in protein and in lime, 

 and in general are less palatable than the legumes. In actual 

 practice the low protein content is their most serious disadvantage. 

 It can be overcome only by buying more high protein feeds for the 

 grain ration. 



355. Timothy low in protein. — Timothy has less than one- 

 quarter as much digestible protein as has alfalfa. Where it is 

 the sole roughage the grain mixture must contain one-half again 

 as much protein as where all legume hay is used. Where the latter 

 is available to mix with timothy the protein content of the grain 

 mixture can be changed accordingly. Of course, most dairymen 

 will grow some timothy for their horses, but for dairy cows this 

 roughage should be looked upon as a supplement to an insufficient 

 supply of legume roughage. Since timothy hay is not very palat- 

 able it is especially important that the dairyman feeding large 

 amounts of it should have plenty of silage. Timothy is also some- 

 what constipating and this fact must be remembered in choosing 

 the rest of the ration. 



For dairy cattle timothy should be cut at full bloom since this 

 is the time that it contains the greatest amount of total digestible 

 nutrients and makes the most palatable hay. It is a little more 

 difficult to cure at this time, but since even at its best it is much 

 less palatable than legume hay, it must be so harvested as to 

 be as valuable as possible. 



356. Hay from mixed grasses. — We use this term to denote 

 a hay which many farmers have, through cutting the same field 

 year after year, a hay which varies according to the season. Such 

 hay consists largely of timothy, but may in wet years contain 

 considerable clover. In some years it may consist largely of weeds. 

 Such a roughage must vary greatly in feeding value, and we men- 

 tion it to call attention to the fact that the rest of the ration must 

 be adjusted according to the nature of the cutting in a given season. 

 The thing to bear in mind regarding such hay is that the more 

 clover in it the better it is in palatability and protein content. 



