MxlI^tlAL OT OxVTTLE'FEEDI^NTG* 301 



Obviously, tliese results have an imjioi'taiit bearing on 

 the comparative value of early-cut as eonipared with late- 

 cut hay. In all the experiments on this subject which are 

 adduced in the foregoing paragraphs, the protein includes 

 all the nitrogenous matters of the fodders. Could the pro- 

 portion of non-protein have been taken into account, there- 

 suits would, doubtless, have been somewhat modified ; but, 

 at the same time, it does not appear probable, from what 

 we now know, that they would have been essentially dif- 

 ferent. In all Kellner's experiments, the amount of true 

 protein, as well as of non-protein, was greatest in the 

 earliest cut fodders, and we have been (p. 265) that tlie 

 true protein of early-cut hay appears to have a greater 

 digestibility than that of late-cut. 



Moreover, most of the non-protein was in the form of 

 amides, which we have seen to have a certain nutritive 

 value. 



While, then, these recent results show that the compara- 

 tive vahie of early-cut hay and green fodder may have 

 been overestimated somewhat, they htill show that its 

 quality is superior to that of lato-cut, other things being 

 equal. 



§ 2. Tbp03 Leghtmbs. 



t If 



The legumes^ — inchiding the vMotls kinds of dover, 

 lucerne, vetches, lupines, etc., as well M pbm tod h^km — 

 are characterized by the large proportion of protein con- 

 tained both in the plant as a whole, and in the seeds. 

 Owing to this and to the fact that they are plants which 

 are much more independent of the supply of nitrogen in 

 the soil, or at least in manures, than are the grasses and 

 gr^ltts, tliey ^re of ttin<3h impottatice in aigriailtitr^. As 

 fodders, wlien properly cut and cured, they aire vei-y rich. 



