410 Kepoht of the Assistant Chemist of the 
Orchard grass, 1886 
Orchard grass, 1887 
12J 
Tall Meadow Oat, 1886 
Tall Meadow Oat, 1887 
Meadow Fescue, 1886. 
Meadow Fescue, 1887. 
15 
12 
12J 
7 
We do not know whether the proportion of water in the hay for the 
two years was the same or not, but taken as the figures stand we find 
that the yield of hay from the same plats was about 39 per cent 
less for 1887 than for 1886, and the table of analyses shows that in 
these same hays there was an increase in albuminoids of about 38 
per cent. It seems, then, that the increase in nutritive value for the 
hays this year over last year has been at the expense of a smaller 
crop, and if, as seems true from the data we have, the real difference 
between the feeding value of a maximum and a minimum crop may 
not always be so great as would be indicated by the yield of hay per 
acre. We have found, in these experiments at least, that the minimum 
crop of 1887 had a considerably higher nutritive value from its 
greater richness in albuminoids than did the larger crop of 1886. 
An examination of the table of the digestibilities shows that the 
digestion coefficients are lower with the hays of this year than for 
those of last, which at first seems to be contradictory to the general 
opinion that the more highly nitrogenous the hay is the higher the 
digestion coefficient, but still, in general this rule may be true, for 
other influences not generally recognized in this connection seem to 
enter in to modify the results. When we compare the grasses of this 
season we find those containing the largest proportion of albuminoids 
to be the most digestible, and an inspection of the table in my report 
for last year shows the same relation to hold for the grasses of that 
season, although when we compare the grasses of this year with that 
grown upon the same plats last year, which were poorer in albuminoids, 
we find them showing the opposite. This variation between different 
years may be due largely to meteorological and other influences which 
can only be determined after a number of years' careful observations. 
Believing that a comparison of the meteorological records for a series 
of years in connection with the analysis of the plants, will aid in 
answering some of these questions, I have tabulated from the Station 
meteorological records, in periods of ten days, from April 1 to the end 
of June, the sunshine, air temperature, soil temperature at three and nine 
inches depths and the rainfall. I have preferred to use the noon tern- 
