MOISTURE CONTENT AND SHRINKAGE OF FORAGE. 



23 



Height of 18 inches, 83.3; in bud, 79.1; early bloom, 77.8; half in 

 bloom, 74.3; in full bloom, 70.6; bloom fading, 68.3; leaves drying, 

 65.1; fuUy ripe, 55.9. For timothy: Heads not yet visible, 74.4; 

 heads just appearing, 72.9; heads fully out, 70.8; beginning to 

 bloom, 66.7; in full bloom, 64.3; past bloom, 59.8; seed fully formed 

 54.3; seed becoming hard, 49.2. 



Investigations on this point were made with the following crops: 

 At Chico, Cal., alfalfa; at Hays, Kans., and Amarillo, Tex., sorghum; 

 and at New London, Ohio, timothy. In the alfalfa several cuttings 

 were made at intervals early in the season, so that later all the dififer- 

 ent stages of maturity could be secured on the same date. The same 

 result was accomplished in the annuals by using plats of sorghum 

 which were planted at different dates. The intention was to handle 

 the timothy in the same way as the alfalfa, but such arrangements 

 were found impossible, and the cuttings of timothy were made on 

 different dates. Samples of all these crops were secured, representing 

 approximately the following stages of development: 



(a) Very young, intermediate between the beginning of growth, and 



budding. 

 ,(6) In bud, before bloom began. 

 (c) About one-tenth in bloom, 

 (i) Full bloom, 

 (e) Fully mature, seed hardening. 



Eight-pound samples representing each stage of development were 

 taken immediately after cutting. Each sample was placed in a sack 

 and kept for 20 days or more until it became perfectly air dry. The 

 amount of moisture lost in air drying was then determined and the 

 sample was sent to Washington, D. C, where it was reduced to a 

 water-free basis in the drying oven. The results obtained with the 

 different crops are given in Table VI, the averages for each crop 

 being also set forth in a separate summary (Table VII). 



Table VI. — Moisture in growing forage at different stages of developm-ent and in the air- 

 dry material. 



Section A. — Alfalfa Samples Collected at Chico, Cal. 



[Dates of weighing: Original material, July 2; intermediate, Aug. 19; air-dry material, Aug. 24.) 





Weight. 



Moisture. 



Sample and stage of 

 growth. 



Green. 



Inter- 

 medi- 

 ate. 



Air 

 dry. 



Oven 

 dry. 



Original 

 material. 



Air-dry 

 material. 



Lost in air 

 drying. 



Very young; 12 inches high: 

 No. 586 



Ounces. 

 123.2 

 123.2 

 123.2 

 123.2 

 123.2 



Ounces. 

 27.95 

 29.45 

 31. 70 

 31.45 

 27.95 



Ounces. 

 27. 95 

 29.45 

 31.95 

 31.45 

 28.20 



Ounces. 

 24.0 

 26.0 

 28.0 

 28.0 

 24.5 



Percent. 

 80.5 

 79.0 

 77.3 

 77.3 

 80.2 



Percent. ■ 

 14.1 

 11.8 

 12 3 

 11.1 

 13.1 



Per cent. 

 77.3 



No. 587 



76.1 



No. 588 .. 



74.1 



No. 589 



74.5 



No. 590 



77.1 







Average 



78.9±0.412 



12.5±0.314 



75.8±0.395 

















