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Some Observations on "Quality" in Hays^*

Massachusetts Agricultural Experiment Station

ABSTRACT

In an attempt to determine the reason for lowered feeding value of much of the 1945 hay crop grown in this region, twenty-five samples of hay from five localities scattered over this state (Massachusetts) were analyzed. In addition to the usual proximate fodder analysis, total sugars and carotene were determined.

In comparison with samples of the 1943 and 1944 crop, hay samples from the 1945 crop were, in general, lower in sugar, carotene, ether extract, and total ash, and higher in fiber. Protein in most cases was average or above.

The results are discussed in the light of the weather records for 1945, an exceptionally wet season, and it is tentatively concluded that insufficient sunshine while the hay was growing, and unfavorable harvesting weather, were in large measure responsible for its relatively low content of such desirable entities as sugar, carotene, and minerals.

A rather close correlation was noted between quality of the hay as judged by appearance of the samples and farmers' opinions of its feeding value on the one hand, and its apparent desirability as revealed by chemical studies on the other hand.

^* Contribution No. 601 of the Massachusetts Agricultural Experiment Station.