178 



Nutritive Matter of Grasses. 



Table III. contains the analysis of the principal natural 

 grasses. Column No. 1 gives the proportion of water ; No. 2, 

 the flesh-forming j)rinciples ; No. 3, the fat-producing principles ; 

 No. 4, the heat-giving principles ; No. 5, the woody matter ; 

 No. 6, the ash. To these I have added a seventh column, of 

 the date of collection, to facilitate a comparison of the latter 

 with the percentage of water. 



The first column of this Table exhibits numbers which differ 

 very much from each other. Whilst in some cases the per- 

 centage of water is as high as 80, in others it only amounts to 

 60 ; in one instance (Briza media) being as low as 51. I do not 

 here mention the second sample of Dactylis glomerata, which 

 was taken when fully ripe, because this must necessarily be 

 excepted. 



The proportion of water is evidently connected with the pe- 

 riod at which the grass comes into flower, the earliest grasses 

 being generally the most succulent, although a careful examina- 

 tion of the Table will show that this is not always the case. 

 Thus the specimens Briza media and Holcus lanatus, both 

 gathered on the 29th of June, contain respectively in round 

 numbers 52 and 70 per cent, of water. 



The proportion of water in a plant becomes interesting chiefly 

 when it is considered as influencing the proportion of dry matter 

 or actual feeding material of the plant. Thus, for instance, the 

 quantity of dry or solid matter in 100 parts of Anthoxanthum 

 odoratum or Alopecurus pratensis is 20 parts ; whilst in Avena 

 flavescens or pubescens it reaches as much as 39 or 40 parts. 

 The immediate interest of this circumstance to the farmer is, 

 that in judging of the quantity of hay which will be produced 

 from a meadow, he must take into account the nature of the 

 grasses composing it, since it is plain that in the instances men- 

 tioned a given weight of one kind of grass will produce twice as 

 much hay as another. 



In looking down the colomns of this Table, especially Nos. 1, 

 2, 3, and 4, which are most important, very great differences 

 will be seen ; the albuminous matters, for instance, being in 

 some cases double what they are in others. In some instances 

 these are differences really in the proportion of the various prin- 

 ciples in relation to each other ; but an apparent variation is 

 very often produced by the greater or less amount of water con- 

 tained in the plant. Such differences are real so far as the com- 

 parison of the fresh-cut grass is concerned, but they in many 

 cases cease to exist when the grasses, being made into hay, are 

 carried to the same point of dryness. 



I believe this latter to be the most important point of view, 

 both practically and scientifically, and I shall therefore reserve 



