16 FABMERS' BULLETIN 814. 



the test were based on Bermuda hay at $12.50 a ton and timothy at 

 $20.80, the actual cost at the time. On that basis the cost of the 

 milk from the Bermuda-fed lot was 7.7 cents a gallon and of the 

 butter 17.4 cents a pound, while the milk from the timothy-fed lot 

 cost 12.8 cents a gallon and the butter 29.5 cents a pound. The 

 bulletin says: "Had the timothy cost no more than the Bermuda 

 hay the cost would have been 9.5 cents a gallon for the milk and 21.9 

 cents lor the butter." This leaves a margin of about 25 per cent hi 

 favor of the Bermuda hay. 



This work was continued the following year and the results, as 

 given in Bulletin No. 21, were slightly less favorable to Bermuda- 

 grass hay but indicated that " ton for ton the two hays have practi- 

 cally the same milk and butter producing values" and "at the 

 prices at which they can be purchased in Mississippi, Bermuda hay 

 will produce milk or butter at a much" less cost than will timothy." 



Bulletin No. 15 of the Mississippi Agricultural Experiment Station, 

 in reporting on the values of different hays for mules, says : 



In order to ascertain the comparative values of Bermuda and timothy hays for feed- 

 ing to working animals, the six working mules belonging to the station were divided 

 into two lots, one mule from each double team being placed in each lot. Both lots 

 received the same amount of corn 'daily and Were given all the hay they could eat, 

 the feeding being continued two months. The results showed that there was practi- 

 cally no difference between the two rations, the food for the lot fed with timothy 

 costing 36 cents more for the entire period than that for the Bermuda-fed lot, the lot 

 receiving timothy gaining 92 pounds during the two months, while the other lot gained 

 90 pounds. 



Prof. E. R. Lloyd, director of the Mississippi Agricultural Experi- 

 ment Station, in a recent letter published in the Progressive Farmer, 

 states that another test was made in 1915 with five lots of mules, 

 each lot containing four or five 2 atfd 3 year old mules, the test being 

 continued 89 days. Each lot received the same amount of grain per 

 mule but were fed with different hays. Bermuda grass, Johnson 

 grass, timothy, lespedeza, and alfalfa hays were used and the cost of 

 each was figured at the local market price then prevailing. The cost 

 of feed for each lot for the 89 days was as follows: 



Bermuda grass $14. 36 



Johnson grass 14. 36 



Lespedeza 16. 38 



Alfalfa 16. 38 



Timothy 18.90 



The feeding value of any hay is indicated to some extent by a 

 chemical analysis showing the proportions of its several nutritive 

 components, and of these components the protein is by far the most 

 important. These components in Bermuda grass, timothy, and Ken- 

 tucky bluegrass, as given by the Bureau of Chemistry of the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, are shown in Table I. The calculations were 

 made on a water-free basis. 



