Feeding Dairy Cattle 

 as he can jDer acre most economically; he wishes to have the 

 hay as highly digestible as possible and as palatable as 

 possible. 



The ideal hay from the feeders' standpoint must be bright 

 in color and have a fine clean aroma. These tw^o factors are 

 important to make the hay properly palatable. If the hay 

 is to be highly digestible all of the leaves must be retained. 

 This is an important factor in the curing of all legumes. It 

 has been found at the Colorado Experiment Station that 40 

 to 60 per cent of the vvfeight of alfalfa hay is in the leaves. 

 In these leaves are four-fifths of the protein and more than 

 one-half of the carbohydrates other than fiber, and more 

 than one-half of the fat. By careful ■wor'k it was found that 

 under very favorable conditions, for every ton of hay taken 

 from the field, 350 pounds were lost in the leaves broken off. 

 In one instance, under unfavorable conditions, for 2000 

 pounds of hay cured 3000 pounds were lost in broken leaves 

 and stems, that is more was lost than saved. The portion 

 saved vmder such conditions is the less valuable part, the 

 woody stems and coarser leaves. The leaves of timothy and 

 other grasses do not break off easily. 



The last factor of great importance is the freedom from 

 dust and mold. Under some circumstances on land that has 

 flowed or on new seeding the hay may be very dusty and 

 dirty due to dirt from an external source. But most of the 

 dust in hay comes from the growth of bacteria and molds. 

 These can only be kept down by proper care in curing. 



With this introduction we may divide the rest of the dis- 

 cussion into two parts: i. Some of the methods used in 

 making hay. 2. When to cut timothy, clover and alfalfa as 

 typical hay crops most generally raised. 



Three things must take place in making hay: i. The 

 water content should be reduced to somewhat below 20 per 

 cent. There is some fermentation going on, caused by bac- 

 teria. 2. The curing process must control this so that the 

 aroma of the hay will be best to make the hay palatable and 

 so that there will be practically no dust. 3. Hay Jiiust be 

 exposed as little as possible to the sun to prevent bleaching. 

 This is again important from the standpoint of palatability. 



Careful experiments have been made which show that 

 dried grass has the same nutritive value as fresh grass. Two 

 portions of the same field have been cut and equal amounts 

 fed to a cow, one portion fresh and an equal portion of the 

 fresh material carefully dried before feeding. The milk pro- 

 duction was the same. In all practical cases, however, one 



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