IX CARE OF ESTABLISHED PASTURES 65 



by Mr. David Wilson, clearly illustrates the depreciation of pasture grasses in 

 food value with age. 



Comparative Food Value of Twelve Grasses at Different Stages of 



Their Life. 



Name of variety. In full leaf. '^'^ bloom^ '° After bloom. 



Seeds ripe. 



Cocksfoot 137 100 87 70 



Meadow foxtail 148 I 106 89 8i 



Tall fescue 136 1 103 92 73 



Meadow fescue 149 [ 116 82 74 



Sweet vernal 146 1 113 89 82 



Yellow oat-grass 140 97 80 77 



Timothy 137 104 83 1 79 



Ryegrass 136 106 ! 84 ! 78 



Wood meadow-grass , 129 lOi 91 i 80 



Rough-stalked meadow-grass ... | 112 104 100 1 73 



Crested dogstail I 131 106 83 [ 74 



Hard fescue 1 145 99 



108 1 100 



Briefly, one loses in quantity by too early cutting, and in quality by too 

 late mowing, while late cutting is prejudicial to the aftermath. 



It is occasionally necessary to cut early in order to prevent specially noxious 

 weeds maturing seed, and also when the crop is laid and liable to rot : and in 

 very wet years late mowing is sometimes unavoidable, since hay which is a 

 little fibrous and hard is better than that injured by excess of moisture. 



Lattermath Cuttings.— Though lattermath hay is generally considered 

 superior in nutritive value, the heavy autumnal dews and succulence of the 

 plants themselves combine to render its making precarious ; and it is perhaps 

 better to utilise the crop green or as ensilage. 



Drying by Sun. — The usual method of drying hay is to spread it out 

 in the sun as soon as it is cut. On the following day it is turned once or 

 more, and at night is made into cocks, to be spread out again the next 

 morning when the dew has evaporated. As dew is most injurious, it is, 

 however, a much better plan to make it into cocks the first night as well. 



In favourable weather, the tedding-machine may be used freely the second 

 day for ordinary meadow hay ; and crops which are not very heavy or do not 

 contain large proportions of leguminous plants can generally be carried during 

 the evening of the third day. In periods of continued wet the grass must be 

 left as cut unless it is made into silage. 



The leaves of clovers and other leguminous plants, when dry, are brittle 

 and break off very easily ; and the produce of such plants should be carefully 

 turned by hand in the swathe as little as is absolutely necessary. 



There is always a risk of injurious heating in the rick if succulent grasses 

 or clovers be carried before sufficient moisture has evaporated. An excellent 

 method of testing their dryness is to twist a few stems into a rope, when — if 

 moisture exude — the crop is not yet fit to carry. 



As rain washes a large amount of nutriment out of the plants (Wolff states 

 that cold water passed through clover-hay extracts from 25 to 40 per cent, of 

 the dry substance), partially dried hay should always be made into compact 

 cocks if rain be feared, because less water has access to it thu5. When 

 heated cocks are spread out in fine weather, the hay dries very rapidly. 



