172 



Feeds and Feeding. 



another it was cut and cured into hay after making full growth. The 

 hay from the grass which was frequently cut was nearly 3 times as 

 rich in crude protein as that from the nearly mature grass cut once, 

 but the latter had the largest total amount of crude protein and nearly 

 4 times as much total dry matter. This teaches that the short, tender 

 grass, such as is gathered by grazing animals, is percentagely much 

 richer in crude protein, which goes to build muscle, than the same 

 grass when allowed to mature. To get the largest returns of total 

 nutrients, hoM'ever, grass must make full growth before it is cut, 



237. Dried green grass. — At the Pennsylvania Station^ Armsby 

 tested the feeding value of dried and fresh grass in the following 

 manner: Short grass on the college lawn was cut with a lawn 

 mower and divided into 2 portions, one of which was fed fresh to 

 a cow, the other half being dried over a steam boiler and in turn fed 

 to the same cow. Armsby had previously conducted a similar ex- 

 periment at the Wisconsin Station with grass cut when 9 or 10 

 inches high. Half was fed fresh, and the other half carefully dried 

 in the sun and later given to the same cow. The yields of milk and 

 butter fat in the 2 trials were as follows : 



Average daily yield of milk and fat from cows fed green and dried grass. 



These results show that perfectly dried grass yields as much nutri- 

 ment as when fed in the fresh condition. In actual hay-making, how- 

 ever, more or less of the finer portions of the plants is always lost. 

 Exposure to the sun reduces the palatability by bleaching and causes 

 a loss of aromatic compounds, dew works injury, and rain carries 

 away the more soluble portions. (48) Thus, while the dried grass 

 may theoretically equal the fresh forage, in practice it falls short. 



Stockhard^ cured one sample of meadow hay in 3 days and left 

 another in the field for 13 days in alternate wet and dry weather. 

 Analysis showed that the w^eathered hay had lost 12.5 per ct. of its 



"■ Ept. 1888. 



Wolff, Farm Foods, Eng. ed., p. 155. 



