16 



BULLETIN 353, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Table III. — Mean percentages of moisture in forage samples of different sizes, shovjing 

 also probable errors — Continued. 



Section B.— Field-Cured Materul.' 





Crop. 



Place. 



Moisture. 



Sample. 



Original 

 samples. 



Air dry. 



Lost in air 

 drying. 



2-pound 



Sorghum.. 



...do 



...do 



...do 



Amarillo, Tex. 



do 



do 



do 



Per cent. 

 48.4±0.812 

 44. 6± .987 

 41. 3± .300 

 38. 3 ± .528 



Per cent. 

 25. 5± 0.712 

 29. 3 ±1.003 

 29. 7± .515 

 28. 6± .617 



Per cent. 

 30. 5± 0.694 



4-pound ". 



6-pound 



8-pound 



21. 5± .351 

 16. 5± .281 

 13. 6± .290 



Mean 



43.2 



28.3 



20.5 





Sorghum., 

 .do 







2-pound 







26. 9± .952 



4-pound 



do 







25. 0± .432 





...do . .. 



do 







26. 9 ± .422 



8-pound 



...do 



do 







25. 0± .302 















Mean 







26.0 





Timothy.. 



...do 



...do 



...do 



New London, 

 Ohio. 



do 



do 



do 









3-pnuTid . , 



18. 8± .254 



20. 7± .321 



21. 7± .285 

 20. 1± .277 



13. 8± .192 



14. 2± .224 



14. 3± .148 

 14. 0± .127 



5.3± .402 



4-pound 



6-pound 



8-pound 



7.6± .384 

 8.6± .388 

 7.1± .354 



Mean 



20.3 



14.1 



7.2 





Tall oat- 

 grass. 



;;;do; ;;;■.'. 



...do 



Arlington, Va. 



do 



do 



do 





2-pouTid 



31. 8± .409 



29. 2 ± .750 

 27. 8± .522 

 27. 2± .136 



17. 7± .295 



19. 9± .861 

 17. 3± .112 

 19. 4± .113 



17. 1± .418 



4-pound 



6-pound 



8-pound 



14. 1± .863 

 12. 7± .566 

 9.5± .169 



Mean 



29.0 



18.6 



13.4 





Alfalfa.... 

 ...do 



Arlington, Va.2 

 do 





2-pound 



9.0± .193 

 10. 4 ± .099 

 12. 3 ± .257 

 12. 0± .181 



9.5± .045 

 10. 0± .203 



9.4± .156 

 11. 0± .135 





4-poiind-, . 





fi-pnund 



.. do 



do 





8-pound 



...do 



do 













Mean 





10.0 







Alfalfa.... 



...do 



...do 



...do 



Chico, Cal 



do 



do 



.....do 







2-pound 



20. 6± .558 

 23. 9± .585 

 22. 4± .399 

 22. 4± 1.454 



8.6± .587 

 9.7± .095 

 9.3± .067 

 11. 5± .186 



13. 2± .611 



4-pound 



6-pound 



8-pound 



15. 9± .548 

 14. 6± .452 

 13. 4± .089 



MAan 



22.3 



9.8 



14.3 











1 Average probable error for the 2-pound samples, 0.445; for the 4-pound, 0.548; for the 6-pound, 0.353; 

 for the 8-pound, 0.515; and for all the samples, 0.465. 



2 The alfalfa at Arlington was cured in the greenhouse before the original weight was taken, so that the 

 original weight is of air-dry rather than of field-cured material. 



The average probable error for the green samples is about 0.240 

 of 1 per cent, and of the field-cured samples 0.465 of 1 per cent. It 

 appears from this that the probable error for green samples is approx- 

 imately half that found in the corresponding field-cured samples. 

 In field practice, however, this difference is not so important as it 

 appears, because the bulk on which the correction is made in the 

 field-cured material is approximately half of that where the original 

 green weight is considered. 



Much greater extremes, however, are found in the field-cured sam- 

 ples than in the green samples, showing that even though the aver- 

 age probable error is not excessive, still there is a possibility of 

 sufficient error in these to affect the results when corrections are 



