2d4c MANUAL OF OATTLE-FEEDIN-G. 



In tlie young plant protein is formed rapidly, but as it 

 grows older the vital activities are directed more to tlie 

 translocation of protein alreadv present than to the pro- 

 duction of new. This is especially the case after blossom- 

 ing, when the protein before present in the stems and 

 leaves is transferred to the seeds and there stored away. 

 At the same time a continual formation of woody fibre 

 goes on, so that a large proportion of the increase in weight 

 of plants after a certain point is due to this substance, and al- 

 though the absolute quantity of protein is not decreased, its 

 percentage in the whole mass of the plant is. When crops 

 are raised for fodder, the object generally is to produce the 

 greatest possible amount of digestible imtrients per acre. 

 IE it were a question simply of producing the greatest num- 

 ber of pounds of nutrients, digestible or indigestible, per 

 acre, if we were confined to one crop in a season, we should 

 let that stand as long as possible, since we have no evidence 

 that there is saij loss of organic matter during ripening. 

 But supposing, for the present, that only one crop is raised 

 in a season, we have seen that the older plants become, the 

 less digestible they are. For this reason, though we might 

 get a greater quantity of nutrients per acre by letting a 

 yearns crop, e. ^., stand till fully ripe, we should probably 

 lose more in digestibility than we gained in amount. 



Furthermore, as we have just seen, while any crop is 

 ripening a large part of the protein and starch passes from 

 the leaves and stem to the seeds, leaving the former rela- 

 tively poor and woody. Now, in the case of grass, the 

 seeds are nearly worthless for fodder, since they are so 

 small as to escape mastication, while whole seeds are seldom 

 digested, being protected by their integuments from the 

 action of the digestive fluids. Moreover, they are easily 

 lost in curing, so that these two circumstances combined 



