THK TIMOTHY CK6P 3 



Quality of the Hay as Affected by the Stage of Cutting 



A change in the quality of hay occurs as the season advances. The 

 percentages of the most valuable constituents, including the two 

 carbohydrates classified as the nitrogen-free extract and the fat, and 

 also the protein, gradually decrease, while the less digestible and less 

 valuable crude fiber increases. 



Timothy hay contains all of the known vitamins, with the exception 

 of C. Of these vitamins, A, present in hay in the form of carotene, 

 is of special importance in the feeding of roughage-consuming animals. 

 It, like most of the vitamins, is present in greater quantities in early 

 cut than in late cut and in well cured than in poorly cured hay. 



Timothy, like other kinds of hay, is graded largely on the basis of 

 its color. At successively later stages of development, as increasing 

 numbers of green leaves, stems, and heads change to straw color or 

 become brown, the United States grades which may be assigned to 

 the hay gradually become lower. 



Time of Cutting 



After timothy has just passed the stage of full bloom there is only 

 a very slight gain in yield of hay ; even after the time of early bloom, 

 the gain is not very great. Since there is a constant decrease in the 

 percentage of protein, there is consequently a gradual decrease in the 

 yield of protein per acre after it is in early bloom. The greatest value 

 per acre, as represented by the largest yield consistent with a high 

 quality of hay, is obtained by cutting when the timothy is in early 

 bloom, and cutting at this stage is recommended. 



On farms where there is a large acreage of timothy and it is not 

 possible to harvest the entire crop at the proper time, it is better to 

 harvest some of the crop a little too early rather than too late. It 

 may even prove practical to grow on the same farm an early, a medium, 

 and a late variety of timothy (fig. 1), in order to extend the time during 

 which a high quality of hay may be obtained. 



In the timothy-growing areas of the United States much hay is 

 not cut until the seed is nearly mature. It may be that when timothy 

 is harvested at this time rather than at an earlier date, there is less 

 competition with other farm work, such as cultivating corn, harvesting 

 wheat, or cutting clover hay. However, this delay occasions a 

 serious loss in the quality and value of the hay. 



Seed Production 



Any timothy meadow that will produce a good crop of clean timothy 

 hay may be harvested for seed. Timothy is most commonly har- 

 vested with a grain binder. After the bundles have become well 

 dried, the seed is threshed with an ordinary threshing machine, with 

 the speed of the cylinder and the fans reduced. More detailed dis- 

 cussion of timothy -seed production is presented in United States 

 Department of Agriculture Leaflet 115, Timothy Seed Production. 



Improved Varieties of Timothy 



Until within quite recent years, there was no seed available of any 

 other kind or variety of timothy than the ordinary unimproved strain. 



