182 Agricultural Section [pt ii 



is usually carried out only on land of moderate quality. The 

 richest grazings soon fall in value under this treatment. 



Meadows. The exhaustive effect on the soil caused by the 

 annual removal of hay crops is very great. An average hay crop 

 of 30 cwt. per acre removes as much nitrogen, almost as much 

 phosphoric acid, and nearly twice as much potash as an average 

 crop of wheat or barley. Moreover, in the case of a permanent 

 meadow the soil does not get the advantages of exposure to the 

 weather as does ploughed land. Further, constant mowing 

 generally greatly diminishes the proportion of white clover pre- 

 sent, and thus the main source of the natural nitrogen supply to 

 grass land is cut off. The annual loss to the soil by the removal 

 of hay must therefore as far as possible be made good by the direct 

 application of manures, and the use of feeding-stuffs to animals 

 grazing the aftermath. 



The common practice of allowing the hay crop to become 

 quite ripe, or even over-ripe, before cutting is a very harmful 

 one. A large proportion of the plants produce seed with the 

 result that they are greatly weakened, and the growth of the 

 valuable aftermath very materially reduced. It is erroneously 

 supposed that the crop continues to increase in weight until the 

 plants are quite mature, and that cutting in the second or third 

 week in July will give a more valuable return than is attained by 

 taking the crop in June. Even if the crop is slightly heavier, it 

 is at the expense of the aftermath, and the produce is certainly 

 less digestible than the less mature crop would be. As Wolff 

 points out in his work on Farm Foods, page 149: "Hay rich in 

 nitrogen and lacking in fibre is clearly the best and most digestible, 

 while that poor in nitrogen and rich in fibre has the least feeding 

 value." From the time of flowering onwards a marked increase 

 in the proportion of crude fibre takes place, while at the same time 

 the percentage of protein and amides (nitrogenous substances) 

 decreases very considerably. It follows therefore that the right 

 time for cutting is just when the bulk of the plants are flowering 

 or immediately afterwards 1 . 



The practice of chain-harrowing to pull out moss and spread 

 loose soil, etc., and also that of thoroughly rolling in the spring 



1 See Bibliography, No. 5. 



