CHAPTER IV 



DESCRIPTION OF THE FEEDING-STUFFS 



(i) Green fodder and hay. 



THESE consist of the parts of plants growing 

 above ground which have not yet completed 

 their growth, and so contain considerable quantities 

 of chlorophyll. Their value depends upon — 



(a) The age of the plant, as is seen from the 

 following examples, which give the composition of 

 various plants at different stages of growth. 



I. Meadow grass harvested from plots which 

 corresponded to one another on the same meadow 

 on 14 May, 9 and 26 June. The first crop was 

 about equal in food value to green fodder, the 

 second crop, cut at the usual time of hay harvest, 

 corresponded to a meadow hay harvested under 

 favourable conditions. The third crop was over- 

 grown, the stems of the plants being very coarse. 

 The composition of the three varieties of hay 

 reckoned upon the same percentage of water — 15% 

 — was as follows — 



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