Crotalaria for Forage


 Stage of Development of C. intermedia as It Affects Palatability
of Silage.-During the summer of 1934 C. intermedia was harvest-
ed at four stages of development, namely the pre-bud, bud,
bloom, and pod stages, and ensiled in the small concrete silos.
Differences in dates of cutting allowed a longer ensiling time for
that forage harvested early. These ensiling periods were 128,
103, 82, and 63 days in length, respectively, when the silos were
opened to begin feeding on December 5, 1934. The same methods
used with the hay were followed in feeding the silage to 15 Jer-
sey cows and 32 grade Hereford and native beef cattle. The
striking decrease in palatability of the more mature silage is seen
by the proportion which was refused, as shown in Table 10.

TABLE 10.-RELATION OF STAGE OF DEVELOPMENT OF C. intermedia TO THE ACIDITY Or
 SILAGE, AND THE AMOUNT EATEN BY CATTLE.
Development Acidity of
 at Ensiling the Pressed Silage Silage Silage
Harvest Period Juice Offered Refused Eaten
 days pH pounds pounds percent
Pre-bud 128 5.08 972 8 99.2
Bud 103 5.12 1,008 285 71.7
Bloom 82 4.75 1,056 351 66.8
Pod 63 5.48 719 448 37.7

 It appeared from chemical composition of the C. intermedia
silage, as shown in Table 21, that as the crude fiber in the dry
matter increased from 32 to 53 percent the protein decreased
from 17 to less than 11 percent and the ether extract from 3.55
to 1.79 percent. Changes in the acidity varied independently of
palatability. This marked change in composition of the C.
intermedia with two months longer growth affected its value as a
forage crop for livestock.
 C. intermedia, while in the pre-bud stage, had a fiber content
in the dry matter within the range of common hay crops, which
is ordinarily between 27 and 33 percent.

 II. NUTRIENT VALUE OF CROTALARIA INTERMEDIA
 Digestion Trials with Mature Crotalaria intermedia Hay.-Facil-
 ities were made available in the autumn of 1932 to determine the
 digestibility of C. intermedia hay. Forage of C. intermedia was
 harvested when a few pods were on the plants and the earliest
 seeds approached maturity. One lot of forage was dried artifi-