MANUAL OB" CATTLE-FEEDING. 



293 



like that of May l*ith, is much more digestible than that 

 cut later, aud the real value of a fodder is, of course, 

 measured by the amount of digestible nutrients it contains. 

 In the above case 100 pounds of each fodder contained the 

 following amounts of digestible matters : 



Cut. 



1 



Digpptible 

 organic 



substance. 

 Pounds. 



I)]ge«5tible 

 protein. 

 Pounds. 



Diarestible 



crude fibre. 



Pounds. 



Digestible 



fat. 

 Pounds. 



Digestible 



nitrojJ:en- 



freeextiact. 



Pounds 



May 14th 



June 9th 



*' 2Gth 



69.30 

 59.31 

 53.45 



13.85 

 8.04 

 4.74 



19.76 

 23.03 

 33.37 



2.32 

 1.43 

 1.17 



33 37 

 26.83 

 24 27 



It will be seen that the total quantity of digestible mat- 

 ters and the amount of digestible protein, the most valu- 

 able of the nutrients, furnished by 100 pounds of the 

 early-cut hay is considerably greater than that jdelded by 

 the same weight of that cut later. Many more examples 

 of the same fact inight be adduced were it needful. 



Early or Late Cutting. — The question of early or late 

 cutting is one that is frequently raised, and the considera- 

 tions just adduced enable us to indicate, to some extent, its 

 answer. Three elements enter into the problem, viz., the 

 quality of the fodder, its quantity, and the amount of labor 

 expended upon it. 



As Just illustrated, young plants are relatively richer in 

 protein and poorer in crude fibre than old ones,, and there- 

 fore more nutritious ; so that if the only question were the 

 quality of the fodder, the best results would be obtained by 

 cutting as early as practicable. 



But we have to consider not only the quality of the fod- 

 der but the quantity of it wduch we can obtain from a given 

 area, and this complicates the question somewhat. 



