I 



Food for Effect on Quality of Hay. 



Plants 

 "94 



How Modern ^l"iost as marked, and certainly more 

 Methods surprising and unexpected, was the effect 



Improve the of the Nitrate upon the quality of the hay 

 Quality of the P^o^u^^*^- During the first season the 

 Tj clover was, naturally, at its best, and upon 



the plat without Nitrogen it made almost 

 all of the hay ; since, as stated, the clover, by means of 

 bacteria dwelling in the nodules on its roots, is able to 

 secure Nitrogen from the air. Consequently it made good 

 growth on this plat where the grasses could secure only a 

 limited supply of food to promote luxuriance. On the 

 other plats, on the contrary, the Nitrate helped the grasses 

 in their competition with the clover. The red top and 

 timothy made up two-thirds of the first cutting of hay on 

 the second plat and one-fourth of the later cutting ; while 

 on the third plat, with the ample supply of Nitrogenous 

 food, the grasses made up nearly all of the hay first cut and 

 three-fourths of the second cutting. In the second season 

 the clover had practically been crowded out of the two 

 Nitrate plats, but it made a scattering growth on the first 

 plat. 



The hay from the plats during the first season was of 

 such diverse character that different ton values had to be 

 placed upon it in estimating the profit from the use of 

 fertilizers. That from the no-Nitrate plat, since it con- 

 tained so much clover at both cuttings, was considered 

 worth only ^9.00 a ton; the first cutting on the small 

 Nitrogen ration was valued at 1 12.00 and the second 

 cutting at 1 10.00 ; while $ 1 6.00 and 1 1 2.00 were the values 

 given to the first and second cuttings respectively on the 

 plat receiving the full ration of Nitrate. These values show 

 clearly how great was the influence of the Nitrogen in 

 developing the grasses. 



But the reduction in the percentage of clover was not 

 the only benefit to the quality of the hay. The Nitrate 

 also decreased the proportion of red top as compared with 

 the finer timothy. This tendency was noticed in the second 

 year, when a count of the stalks on selected equal and 

 typical areas showed 13% of timothy on the 150 pound 

 plat and 44% on the 450 pound plat. In the third year 



