Feeding Dairy Cattle 



time there must be moisture enough to cause the hay to pack- 

 well. The ability to decide just when hay is right to go in 

 is an art and no rule can be given. Authentic instances of 

 spontaneous combustion are on record, therefore one mu: 

 take no chance by puttng in the hay too green. 



WHEN TO CUT TIMOTHY, CLOVER AND ALFALFA 



The proper time to cut hay is when the largest yield per 

 acre can be obtained commensurate with highest quality. 

 With timothy hay this is when in full bloom. The Missouri 

 Station in an experiment showing average results for three 



seasons gives us the best data: 



YIELD OF TIMOTHY CUT AT DIFFERENT STAGES 



Dry matter Total digestible 

 per acre ,lb.s. matter, lbs. 



Coming into blossom 3411 1908 



Full bloom 3964 2113 



Seed formed ' 4089 2030 



Seed in dough 4038 1914 



Seed ripe 3747 1754 



It will be seen that at full bloom the most digestible mat- 

 ter is yielded. The farmer who wishes to sell his hay would 

 not cut it until after the seed had formed in order to get the 

 greatest yield of dry matter per acre. Practice tells us that 

 for feeding most animals the early cut timothy is the best. 

 Horses, however, may utilize to good advantage hay cut 

 later. A like table from Illinois and Pennsylvania gives com- 

 parable results on red clover : 



YIELD AND NUTRIENTS IN AN ACRE OF MEDIUM RED CLOVER. 



Yield of hay Total 



Stape of growth when cut per acre, lbs. nutrients, lbs. 

 Illinois — Hunt: 



Full bloom 3600 2309 



Heads three-fourths dead 3260 2231 



Pennsylvania — -Jordan : 



Heads in bloom 4210 3419 



Some heads dead 4141 3202 



Heads all dead 3915 3153 



This shows that the proper time to cut clover is when in 

 full bloom. 



With alfalfa a different problem is involved. Here the 

 second crop must be considered. Two general rules are 

 observed: i. Cut when about one-tenth in bloom. 2. Cut 

 when new shoots appear at the crown. In general it seems 

 best to observe the second rule in the interest of the next 

 crop. In many sections it is practically impossible to cure 

 the first crop of alfalfa. Although apart from the subject of 

 hay making it may be mentioned here that one way to con- 

 serve this first crop under unfavorable weather conditions is 

 to put it into the silo as one would put in corn. The result- 

 ing silage is not as valuable as corn silage but is a valuable 

 silage nevertheless. 



Faye Thirty-three 



