UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

 BULLETIN No. 353 



Contribution from tite Bureau of Plant Industry 

 WM. A. TAYLOR, Chief 



Washington, D. C. 



PROFESSIONAL PAPER 



March 16, 1916 



MOISTURE CONTENT AND SHRINKAGE 

 OF FORAGE 



AND THE RELATION OF THESE FACTORS TO 

 THE ACCURACY OF EXPERIMENTAL DATA 



By 



H. N. VINALL, Agronomist, and ROLAND McKEE, 



Assistant Agrostologist, Office of Forage-Crop 



Investigations 



CONTENTS 



Pago 



Introduction 1 



GeneralPlanoftlie Experiments ... 2 

 Use of Samples in Correcting Forage 



Yields 3 



Relation of the Stage of Growth of Forage 



Plants to Their Moisture Content . . 22 

 Loss of Moisture in Forage during the 



Early Stages of Curing 27 



Page 

 Variation in the Moisture Content of 



Growing Alfalfa during a Single Day . 31 

 Moisture Content of Baled Hay .... 31 

 Shrinkage of Hay after Storing and Vari- 

 ation in Weight Due to Changes in At- 

 mospheric Humidity 32 



Summary 36 



WASHINGTON 



GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 



1916 



