22 



N. H. Agr. Experiment Station 

 Table XXIII. 



[Bulletin 306 



Rainfall Data 1930-1937 



May 



2.93 



3.03 



1.25 2.41 I 3.37 | 1.35 | 2.08 | 3.29 



June 



3.20 I 5.52 



2.33 



1.85 I 3.57 I 6.36 



1.58 



4.42 



July 



3.71 



2.20 



1.89 



4.61 



2.32 



2.13 I 2.58 I 



.67 



August 



2.21 



3.70 



3.11 4.24 



1.21 



1.55 



2.95 5.48 



TOTAL 



18.18 20.89 



12.84 I 30.66 I 17.39 



15.84 



22.29 



22.46 



(litFtTOut t'uttiiifr dates upon tlie life of tlie stand. Yields obtained were 

 therefore somewhat lower than those whieh would be secured by farm- 

 ers who praetiee a shorter rotation, but it is believed that with a shorter 

 rotation span the yields secured would be proportionally similar to those 

 found here if cutting were practiced at identical dates. Further, it 

 se(Mns certain that the pei'centafre of protein and total pi'otein per acre 

 would vary in esseiilially the same proportion as far as the grass hay 

 crop is concerned. 



The.se facts apparently have little room for doubt that for cows 

 gi'ass hay should be cut early, at least before the period of bloom. If 

 cut between the dates when heads begin to appear and Ijeforc bloom, the 

 yield will be somewhat less and total carbohydrates will doubtless run 

 somewhat lower than if cutting is practiced at a later date, but both tlie 

 prrceiitage protein and total protein will be significantly higher lliaii if 

 cutting is delayed. 



Furthermore, hay cut ix'Torc bhjoin will be somewhat harder to cure 

 because it carries more moisture in its tissues'^ than it does at a later 

 date. Farmers who wish to utilize this knowledge of grass hay com- 

 position to fullest advantage should use hay-making methods that re- 

 (juiie a minimum of hand and a maximum of machine labor to cut the 

 cost of the curing process. 



Farmers who are normally short of hay may not wish to sacrifice on 

 yields to secure the better feeding value that can be obtained by early 

 cutting. If early cutting would i-esult in a i-eduetion in yield sutlieient 

 to caus<' the piirehase of hay (hiring the following winter there might be 

 .some (|uestion as to the wisdom of the practice on those farms. There are 

 so many ways of augmenting the hay supjily. such as top-dressing, cut- 

 ting hay on otliei- iiearb.\' farms, ju'ael icing shortei' I'olalions to increase 

 yields, etc., that liiis does not seem a reasonable argument against early 

 culling on very many farms. 



A very serious ]n-oblem on I'mimiis where early haying is well eslab- 

 lished is to gef all the hay cul while the feeding value is still faii'ly high. 

 To do this i-e(|uires starting well before the period of bloom, probably 

 at the time when thi' planls come into lie;id or certainly not long after 

 this period. 



Circ. 41, N. H. Exp. Sta. 



