■94 MAINE AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 



as regards oats there is very little available information indicat- 

 ing at what stage of growth they should be cut for hay making. 

 Accordingly some experiments were undertaken to determine 

 the comparative value of oat hay cut at different stages of 

 maturity. In 1897 a section of a field of oats was set apart for 

 these tests. The portion selected was covered with a fairly uni- 

 form growth and the oats in all parts of it appeared at about the 

 same stage of maturity. The piece was then divided into three 

 ■equal sections. One of these sections was cut on July 27th when 

 the oats were in bloom. A second section was cut one week 

 later, August 5th, when nearly all the kernels were in the milk 

 stage, and the third August 12th when nearly all the grains had 

 passed to the dough stage of maturity, the tops and upper por- 

 tion of the stalks were green, but the lower portions showed 

 signs of ripening. AVhen cured this cutting made nearly as 

 good looking hay as the other two sections, but evidently was 

 not as palatable as it was not as readily eaten by the sheep. 

 Care was taken in curing all the cuttings to avoid exposure to 

 moisture, all were dried as quickly as possible and then stored 

 in the barn until needed for further work. 



To estimate the increased yield from the growth of the crop 

 during the time that elapsed between the cuttings, three sections, 

 each 10x15 test, were taken in different parts of the large 

 plats. One third, five feet of the length, was cut each time that 

 -cuttings were made from the larger sections, carefully dried and 

 the dry matter determined in each, which is given in pounds per 

 acre. 



Dry matter of ist cutting per acre, 4418.8 pounds. 



Dry matter of 2d cutting per acre, 5218.3 pounds. 



Dry matter of 3d cutting per acre, 4571.0 pounds. 



The third cutting was worked on somewhat by birds, which 

 probably accounts for the decrease in yield below the second. 



The composition of the hays cut at different stages of 

 maturity is shown in the table which follows. Another table 

 also shows the composition of three different sections of the oat 

 plant, the object being to determine at what distance from the 

 ground the oats should be cut, or what loss occurred by leaving 

 a long stubble. Some plants 3J/2 to 4 feet high were cut close to 

 the ground : then divided into three sections, one of which was 



