26 — 
one-half feet under favorable conditions. It is a somewhat 
hackneyed observation that horses eat them (stems) more 
readily than they do the leaves, if not all too coarse ; while 
cattle prefer the leaves. The percentage of stems and 
leaves, including flowers, varies with different plants from 
40 to 60 per cent. A very leafy, small-stemmed plant may 
have more than 60 per cent, leaves and, consequently, less 
than 40 per cent, stems, but the stems of an average plant 
will amount to between 40 and 60 per cent. These numbers 
are of importance when it concerns hay making, as common 
experience teaches that the leaves are readily lost if the 
hay is not handled carefully and advantageously. In as 
much as many of the smaller stems may go with the leaves, 
the loss in making hay can, and in some cases, does amount 
to from 50 to 60 and even more per cent. We undertook to 
determine, by weight, this loss in making hay, but desisted 
after a very brief trial for reasons similar to those given un¬ 
der the subject of damage done to hay by rain. We have 
been led by our experience and observation, to the conclu¬ 
sion that the minimum loss from the falling off of leaves and 
stems in successful hay making amounts to from 15 to 20 
per cent., and in cases where the conditions have been un¬ 
favorable, as much as 60 or even 66 per cent, of the dry 
crop, or, for each 1,700 pounds of hay taken off the field, at 
least 300 pounds of leaves and small stems are left, and, in 
very bad cases, as much as 1,200 pounds may be left for each 
800 pounds taken. Of course, the latter is extreme, but it 
does occasionally happen even in this land of perpetual sun¬ 
shine. The chemical loss has been referred to under pro- 
teids, farm sample, first cutting, analysis No. 3. 
The stems loose 59.79 per cent, of their weight in cur¬ 
ing, and yield 40.21 per cent, of air dry substance with the 
following composition : 
■ 
Water. 
Ash. 
Ether 
Extract. 
Crude 
Protein. 
(’rude 
Fiber. 
Nitrogen 
Free 
Extract. 
Total 
Nitrogen. 
Amide 
Nitrogen. 
Air dried. 
5.41 
4.91 
.94 
6.34 
54.40 
28.00 
1.015 
0.07 
Air dried.. 
5.71 
4.99 
.85 
6.35 
54.32 
27.79 
1.015 
[0.07] 
Water free. 
5.19 
.953 
6.479 
57.51 
29.87 
1.035 
• . • • 
Water free. 
5.30 
.900 
6 469 
57.61 
29.72 
1.035 
• • . • 
Digestible. 
.... 
.... 
.456 
4.63 
25.00 
20.21 
liatio, 1 :10. 
Th is shows the stems to be very high in crude fiber and 
low in nitrogen free extract, while the proteids are almost 
equal to the average amount in timothy hay and the fat is 
less than one-half as much. Assuming the coefficient of di¬ 
gestibility for the stems to be equal to the average coeffi- 
