Review of Literature 



Prince ct al. (8) reported dige*tion experiments conducted in 1931 by 

 Ritznian and associates to compare the nutritive value of timothy hay 

 cut June 20 and July 20. The digestihility of j)rotein decreased 15 per 

 cent, the digestiliilitv of energy decrea'^ed 12 j)er cent and the daily l)al- 

 ance of energy decreased from 5510 Calories to 1280 Calories in the late 

 cut hay. Each of the four animals received about 20 pounds of hay daily 

 as the sole ration. Observations after each feeding revealed that the 

 animals accepted tlie earlier-cut hay much more readily than they did 

 the hay that was cut July 20. Hay cut about August 7 from another por- 

 tion of the same field, showed a digestibility of 32 per cent in the pro- 

 tein. 49 per cent of energy, and tlie daily ])alance of energy about 1000 

 Calories which was an additional 17 percent decrease of the digestibility 

 of the protein and a 6 per cent decrease in the energy lialance. 



Colovos et al. (3 I 1949 compared the nutritive value and acceptal)ility 

 of timothy hay cut at different stages of maturity with clover hay. The 

 results of this experiment showed a decrease in nutritive value similar 

 to that in the experiment with timothy hay in 1931 at this Station. (8). 



Poulton et al. (7l 1957 reported the effect of nitrogen fertilization at 

 levels of 100. 200. and 400 11). per acre on the nutritive evaluation of or- 

 chardgrass hay. The hays thus grown were compared to alfalfa liay. The 

 conclusion was tliat the total digestilile nutrients of the three orchard- 

 grass liays were higher tlian the values found for alfalfa. 



Nellin et al. (6l 1960 studied the effects of date of harvest on tlie nu- 

 tritive value of timothy. Climax timothy grown under 100 pounds per 

 acre of 10-10-10 fertilizer was harvested at eleven stages of maturity be- 

 ginning May 27 and ending August 5. Delayed harvest decreased the di- 

 gestible energy and total digestible nutrients of the forage materially 

 until the first week in July after which the decrease was not as pro- 

 nounced. 



Browning et al. ( 1 ) 1960 reported that liberal nitrogen fertilization of 

 Coastal Bermuda and Johnsongrass improved the feeding value and yield 

 of the resulting hays. 



Spahr et al. (12) I960, noted that advancing stage of maturity of the 

 forages tested resulted in lower daily milk production per cow and lower 

 body weight gains when the forages were fed ad libitum as the only 

 source of roughage. 



Chalupa et al. (2) 1961. studied the nutritive value of reed canary 

 grass hays grown with lb., 100 lb., and 200 lb. nitrogen per acre and 

 compared them to alfalfa. 



Lloyd et al. (5) 1961. determined the effect of nutrient digestibility 

 of timothy hay harvested at four stages of maturity and compared the 

 nutritive value index of the hays. In general there was a decrease in the 

 apparent digestibility of all fractions of timothy hay with increasing ma- 

 turity. 



Experimental 



The nutritive evaluation of bromegrass hay grown under different 

 levels of nitrogen fertilization was carried out over a three-year period. 



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