52 



BULLETIN 65, HAWAII EXPERIMENT STATION 



COMPOSITION 



Results of recent investigations have shown that analysis of a grass 

 is of little value unless attention is paid to the stage of maturity at 

 which it is cut and to climatic conditions prevailing during its growth. 

 Grass progresses from a succulent stage consisting entirely of leaves 

 and sheaths, to a mature stage in which stems predominate and bear 

 partly dried leaves or none at all. During this period the plant 

 changes from an easily digested, concentrate feed of high protein 

 content, to one high in fiber and low in protein and in digestibility. 

 Table 1, compiled from data collected by the Waite Institute (3, p. 23), 

 illustrates the effect of the maturity of a plant on its protein and fiber 

 content. 



Table 1. — Percentages of protein and crude fiber in dry weight of grass, as affected 

 by cutting the grass 1 at different intervals 



Plat No. 



Interval 

 between 

 cuttings 



Protein 



Crude 

 fiber 



Plat No. 



Interval 

 between 

 cuttings 



Protein 



Crude 

 fiber 



1 - 



Weeks 



2 

 4 

 7 



Per cent 

 14. 56 

 14.00 

 10. 56 



Per cent 

 18.84 

 23. 43 

 25. 33 



4 



Weeks 

 10 



C) 



Per cent 

 8. 56 

 5.00 



Per cent 

 25. 18 

 29. 93 



2. 



5_ 



3 __ 





1 The herbage — a mixture of perennial and annual grasses, legumes, and miscellaneous species— was cut 

 from adjoining plats. 

 s Plants were mature. End of the growing season. 



Table 2 gives information about each grass analyzed, where it was 

 grown, and the stage of maturity at which it was cut. In most 

 instances analyses were made of mature grasses only, all the leaves 

 being green and the seed in the dough stage, approximating the con- 

 dition in a rested paddock at the time when the cattle are turned in. 



