4 
Bulletin 93 . 
of some of our fodders, either because of their present importance 
or because of their possible interest to stockmen and feeders. 
It may not be amiss to state some of the more salient differ¬ 
ences between the leguminous hays and those made from grasses. 
The leguminous hays contain a larger portion soluble in water 
and alcohol by about 10 per cent than the native hay, the amount 
of hemicellulose, cellulose like constituents reacting with phlorog- 
lucin, is much larger in the leguminous hays than in the native 
hays. These two facts may account for the greater sensitiveness 
that the leguminous hays show to the effects of moisture. I have 
seen alfalfa badly discolored by a heavy dew. These facts, too, 
may indicate even greater differences than we at present realize. 
The extractive as well as the nitrogenous substance are probably 
quite different, which is also certainly true among the grasses as 
well. 
The leguminous hays are as a class sensitive to the action of 
water and inclined to heat readily. Under our Colorado condi¬ 
tions the action of water is often wholly avoided and the hay has 
a bright green color and a marked pleasant odor. One would ex¬ 
pect such hay to be more uniform in quality and superior to that 
made in states where it is difficult to cut and cure the hay with¬ 
out its being’more or less damaged by rains or heavy dews. 
I do not know to what extent the quality of the hay affects 
its digestion coefficients, but alfalfa hay is certainly sensitive to 
the action of even a slight amount of moisture in the form of rain 
or dew. I have but little data conveying any idea of how sensi¬ 
tive it is or of the character of the changes produced in it. I have 
had opportunity to study but one sample in any detail; in 
this case I do not know what percentage of the original hay was 
washed out, the hay did not heat; it was simply cut at one of 
those inopportune periods when it rains every few hours even in 
Colorado. The total rainfall during this wet period was 1.76 
inches. The hay which escaped the rain contained 26.46 percent 
crude fibre; that which was exposed to it contained 38.83 percent, 
the former contained 18.71 per cent protein the latter 11.01. The 
nitrogen free extract, which includes the liemicelluloses was re¬ 
duced about five per cent. These statements and figures may 
serve both to justify and explain my statement that legume hay, 
especially alfalfa, is very sensitive to the action of moisture and 
fermentation. In the case of brennheu, the fermentation seems 
to make it more palatable to cattle. I have never heard of this 
effect having been produced in the case of hays made from grasses, 
this, however, may be the case, but I have not met with any state¬ 
ment to this effect. The large portion of the legume hays soluble 
in water and easily fermentable accounts for their rapid deteriora¬ 
tion when exposed to excessive moisture and heat. The amount 
