58 



FORAGE PLANTS AND THEIR CULTURE 



stations and much along the same line in Europe. There 

 remains no doubt that the chemical content of plants is 

 directly influenced by the soil, and that other things being 

 equal the richest feed, especially of grasses, is that grown 

 on the most fertile soil. 



50. Chemical composition as affected by stage of 

 maturity. The variation in chemical composition de- 

 pending on stage of development has been studied in many 

 plants by many investigators. 



The results secured in 1890 by Stone at the New Hamp- 

 shire Experiment Station are here cited : 



TIMOTHY CHEMICAL COMPOSITION AS AFFECTED BY TIME 

 OF HARVESTING 



51. Variation in chemical composition from unascer- 

 tained causes. In any series of chemical analyses of a 

 hay plant such as timothy there is a wide variation shown 

 in the amount of each constituent. 



The following table shows the average and extremes 

 for each constituent in the 68 American analyses of timothy 

 compiled by Jenkins and Winton and 29 European analyses 

 compiled by Stebler and Volkart : 



