Influence of Drying Fodders 



205 



of the farm from sources outside the soil also adds 

 to their value. 



Green vs. dried fodders. Conditions of drying. 

 Nearly all of the herbaceous plants that are grown for 

 consumption by farm animals may be fed either in a 

 green or dry state. Oats, maize, clover, alfalfa, and 

 other species which serve so useful a purpose as soil- 

 ing crops for summer feeding are also dried that they 

 may be successfully stored for winter feeding, though 



Fig. 3. Crop of alfalfa, New York State Experiment Station. 



maize, and, to some extent, other crops, are now pre- 

 served in a green condition through the process of 

 ensilage. 



The advantages and disadvantages of green as com- 

 pared with dry fodders have been much discussed, and 

 some of the facts, chemical and otherwise, bearing 

 upon the question are presented in this connection. It 

 is safe to assert that the compounds of a dried fodder 

 which has suffered no fermentation are practically what 

 they were in the green, freshly-cut material, excepting 

 that nearly all of the water contained in the green 





