194 ELEMENTARY TREATISE ON STOCK FEEDS AND FEEDING 



Great care should be exercised in harvesting grasses. They 

 should be cut before they become too woody and lose color. In 

 curing, the green color and aroma should be maintained as much 

 as possible. 



Straws. — The straws from rye, barley, buckwheat, wheat, oats 

 and rice are sometimes used in furnishing part of the roughage 

 of dairy rations. Oat straw when bright, may be used to 

 advantage. Many feeders use a small amount of o^at straw to 

 furnish a part of the roughage. As a general rule straws are 

 too woody and stifif. to be used to any considerable extent for 

 feeding dairy cows in milk. 



Legumes. — Alfalfa, clovers, Canada field pea, cowpea, soy 

 bean and peanut vine are the principal leguminous plants used 

 in dairy rations. Alfalfa and the clovers are par excellence for 

 supplying roughage. Cowpea, peanut vine, soy bean and Japan 

 clover (lespedeza) are fed in the South where they are easily 

 grown. All the legumes are nitrogenous and make excellent 

 roughage for carbohydrate concentrates. Clover hay is fed more 

 in dairy rations than any other leguminous hay. It is greatly 

 relished by dairy cattle. 



Legumes should be harvested before they are mature to have 

 the best feeding value. They are usually highest in feeding 

 value just when in blossom. Great care should be taken in 

 curing these natural feeds as the shattering of the leaves and 

 other fine parts, results in large losses of protein. Rain and dew 

 also injure these feeds. 



Methods of Curing. — There are dififerent methods employed in 

 the successful curing of these crops. Some farmers cut this 

 class of forage late in the afternoon so that very little wilting 

 takes place before the dew falls. The next day the hay is cured 

 as rapidly as possible and stored away before night. Another 

 system requires that the forage be cut in the morning just after 

 the dew has dried off. It should not be disturbed until after- 

 noon when it is cocked before the dew falls. The cocks should 

 be covered with caps to prevent rain injury, and allowed to 

 stand until the sweating process is over. The cocks are then 



