GREEN FORAGE AND HAY CROPS 99 
is grown west of the Mississippi, but the individual crops are quite 
differently distributed. The timothy and clover mixed, or clover 
and timothy alone, are grown largely east of the Mississippi and ° 
in the North, while prairie hay, grain hay, and root forage are 
grown more extensively in the West than elsewhere. 
Yields of Hay.—The average yield of hay per acre in 1909 for 
the entire country was 1.35 tons, the maximum average yields being 
credited to the Pacific and mountainous divisions, with 1.73 tons, 
and the lowest average yield to the South Atlantic division, with 
1.20 tons per acre. These are average figures only and do not show 
the yields secured by good methods of farming or on irrigated land. 
The yield of hay obtained is dependent on various factors, as the 
character and condition of the soil, the method of management as 
to fertilization, seeding, time of cutting, etc. A good hay field 
will yield from two to three tons of timothy and clover hay to the 
acre. There are, however, authenticated reports of yields of over 
7 tons of well-dried timothy and red top hay, obtained in two cut- 
tings on a Connecticut farm, and an alfalfa field yielded at the rate 
of 6 tons to the acre.” These yields were obtained by intensive 
culture and heavy fertilization and seeding; they show what can 
be done under optimum conditions in humid regions. In the 
semi-arid regions under irrigation still heavier yields are secured 
regularly year after year, e.g., in central and southern California, 
on irrigated land, alfalfa will yield 7 or 8 cuttings, averaging a ton 
or more to the acre per cutting. 
Chemical Composition.—The chemical composition and con- 
tents of digestible components of hay crops will be seen from the 
table: 
Composition and Digestibility of Hay Crops, in Per Cent 
Digestible 
Moisture Fiber Ash : Carbo- N.R., 
Protein |) hydrates 
and fat 1: 
Mixed grasses......... 15.38 |° 27.2 5.5 4.2 44.9 10.7 
Timothy............. 13.2 29.0 | 4.4 2.8 45.3 16.2 
Orchard grass......... 9.9 32.4 | 6.0 4.9 45.6 9.3 
Red top.............. 8.9 28.6 5.2 4.8 49.1 10.2 
Kentucky blue grass...| 21.2 ~| 23.0 | 6.3 4.4 41.0 9.5 
Bermuda grass........ 7.1 25.0 | 3.5 6.4 48.5 7.6 
Johnson grass......... 10.2 28.5 6.1 2.9 47.4 16.3 
Marsh grass.......... 10.4 30.0 | 7.7 3.1 41.7 | 13.5 
‘Cyclopedia American Agriculture, vol. ii, p. 436. 
