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BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



Salt Hay. 



The product of your acres of sea-lands is to you an im- 

 portant one, even though only local in its bearing upon 

 Massachusetts agriculture. A yearly harvest fertilized by 

 the great ocean, requiring no outlay except for ditching the 

 land and securing the crop, but it is of little use unless you 

 feed it in such a way as to get a profit out of it, and this you 

 can do if the principles of feeding above set forth are re- 

 garded. 



Salt hay, while varying greatly in quality according to the 

 character of the growth and the elevation and location of the 

 marsh, must be judged from its average composition as it 

 comes to the barn, — not what it might be if better pro- 

 tected, etc. 



The table of food composition gives it as poor in albu- 

 minoids, and therefore classes it with fresh meadow hay, 

 straw, corn fodder, etc. ; and in compounding it into rations 

 we must be guided by the four principal conditions under 

 which it is likely to be fed : — 



1. Where salt marsh hay is to be the only coarse food 

 used. This is not the best condition, but as there are some 

 and perhaps many who use it in this way, I give one ration 

 which may be of use. 



Ration A. 



2. Where salt hay and English hay are to be combined. 



