302 PEOCESSES OF GEOWTH. 



been seen that the nutritive substances of grass are 

 those which are, for the most part, soluble in water, 

 such as sugar, gluten, and other compounds. Now, it 

 is evident that, if this is so, the grass should be cut at 

 the time when it contains the largest amount of these 

 principles. In its early stages of growth it contains a 

 very large percentage of water. From its earliest 

 growth the sugar and other soluble substances gradu- 

 ally increase, till they reach their maximum percentage 

 in the blossom, or when the seed is fully formed in the 

 cell. Prom this period the saccharine matter constantly 

 diminishes, and the woody fibre, perfectly insoluble in 

 water, and innutritious, increases till after the seeds 

 have matured, when the plant begins to decay. Of 

 course, if the plant is not cut in the flower, a great part 

 of the nutriment of its stems and leaves is wasted. 



There are, perhaps, exceptions to this in the natural 

 grasses, as already seen in considering their nutritive 

 qualities, and in the analyses at different periods of 

 their growth. Thus, in case of the orchard grass, Sin- 

 clair found the nutritive matter at the time the seed 

 was ripe, and at the time of flowering, as seven to five; 

 and the stems of Timothy were found to contain more 

 nutritive matter when the plant was ripe than at the 

 time of flowering, though it was found that the loss of 

 aftermath, which would have formed had the plant been 

 cut in blossom, more than balanced the gain of nutritive 

 matter in the ripening of the seed. Most of the grasses, 

 too, make a greater quantity of hay when cut at the 

 time of blossoming, though the crested dog's-tail has 

 been found to be an exception to this rule. Fowl 

 meadow, also, contains an equal quantity of produce at 

 the time of ripening the seed and at the time of blos- 

 soming, and the nutritive matter at both periods is 

 about the same. It will be found in practice generally 



