6 
THE COLORADO EXPERIMENT STATION 
PAGE 
Moisture in Air Dried Hay .. • x 8 
The moisture in the laboratory samples averaged 6.03 per 
cent, the field sample, 7.09 per cent.; under ordinary Colo¬ 
rado conditions the average will not be far from 6.5 per cent. 
Air dry alfalfa hay under our usual conditions absorbs moist- 
ture rapidly. One ton of ordinary air dry hay will readily ab¬ 
sorb llTpounds of moisture during a damp spell. 
Ash or Mineral Constituents . 19-21 
The amount of ash present in alfalfa hay varies but slightly. 
The average for the first cutting is 9.08 per cent.; for second 
cutting 10.24, and for the third cutting 9.83 per cent, for our 
laboratory samples.. The results for the field samples were a 
little higher, 11.19, 10.48, and 10.07 per cent, for the respective 
cuttings. These figures are for the pure ash. A five-ton crop 
of alfalfa removes about 1,025 pounds of ash or mineral 
matter. 
Water in Alfalfa . 21-22 
The average percentages of water in the first and second 
cuttings are 73.14 and 71.08. The water in the third cutting 
was not determined. Other determinations for the first and 
second cutting gave 74.76 per cent, for the former, and 72.80 
per cent, for the latter. One hundred pounds of green alfalfa, 
first cutting, makes about 27 pounds of hay; and 100 pounds 
of second cutting makes about 29 pounds of hay. 
» 
Amids , Amid Nitrogen . 22-25 
The amid nitrogen in the first cutting of alfalfa hay corre¬ 
sponds to 10.85 per cent, of the total crude proteids or albu¬ 
minoids, and 19.93 per cent, of the total in the second cutting, 
while we found but 5.03 per cent for the third cutting. 
Colorado samples differ greatly from Texas samples given in 
Texas Bulletin No. 20, 1892. 
The amids probably reach their maximum at about the period 
of half bloom, as they begin to disappear as the plants go out 
of bloom. 
The bloom itself is rich in amids (see p. 28 for analysis). 
About 20.28 per cent, of the total albuminoids being amids. 
Nitrogen as Nitric Acid . 25 
Nitrogen is not present in this form—the result of 18 tests. 
Parts of the Plant. 25-32 
Stems p . 25 .—Average diameter, 0.17 of an inch; height five and 
one-half feet under favorable conditions. Proportion from 40 
to 60 per cent, of the plant; the rest of the plant is represented 
