124 CROPS 



during the making of hay from alfalfa, alsike and red clovers, 

 orchard grass and timothy, and in the curing of corn fodder. 

 The figures are all reduced to the dry basis so that they may 

 be compared. It is to be noted that a loss occurs uniformly 

 in the crude protein content, in nearly every crop in ash 

 and crude fat, whereas there is little change in the nitrogen- 

 free extract, and an increase in the crude fiber in nearly 

 every instance. 



The drying of the crop is of the greatest importance in 

 haymaking, for the presence of large quantities of water will 

 promote the activities of fermentative bacteria, that is, the 

 hay will rot. This rotting is in large measure an oxidation 

 process caused by the action of bacteria. Moisture is 

 necessary for the life of the bacteria, and changes take place 

 which render the hay unfit for use as food. This bacterial 

 oxidation sometimes raises the temperature considerably, 

 occurring when the stack is not ventilated sufficiently, and 

 the heat is not conducted away. Moreover, too moist hay 

 encourages the growth of molds which destroy the value of 

 a hay as food. 



During the drying process some changes take place, 

 probably of an enzyme nature, whereby compounds like 

 volatile oils develop, thus giving flavor and palatability 

 to the hay. This process undoubtedly continues to some 

 extent in the mow or stack. 



The time of cutting hay is of importance. It must be 

 remembered that the stems and leaves are the valuable 

 portion. They should be harvested when they contain as 

 much valuable digestible constituents as possible, and yet 

 give as great a yield as is consistent with the other factors. 

 In the later stages of growth the proteins, fats, and carbo- 

 hydrates are moved to the seed. The stems and leaves 

 are exhausted of these constituents and at the same 

 time are provided with more cell wall material or crude 

 fiber. The seeds of grasses and of the hay legumes are very 

 small and are easily shaken off when dry. In this way there 

 would be lost the most valuable part of the food, were the 

 hay to be made from mature crops. 



Again, in such crops as alfalfa most of the protein is in 



