Florida Agricultural Experiment Station


quite dark. Cattle refused to eat the silage of only one species-
C. striata-even though it had a green color and not unpleasant
odor. The silage of C. intermedia was quite palatable and of good
quality. The silage from these legumes was less acid than corn
silage, the pH values (hydrogen-ion concentrations) ranging be-
tween 4.6 and 5.5, as compared with 3.47 in the Whatley's Prolific
corn silage (20).
 The chemical composition of the dry matter in the freshly-
 cut crotalarias, and of the silage taken from the 10-kilogram
 sample bags, is given in detail in Tables 20 and 21. In general,
 the crotalarias contained between 10 and 18 percent of crude
 protein in the dry matter. Their calcium contents were fairly
 high, even when grown on acid sandy soils. The content of crude
 fiber was quite high as compared with other legumes grown as
 commercial hay crops. The composition of the silages is dis-
 cussed further in the next section of this bulletin.
 Stage of Development of C. intermedia as It Affects Palatabil-
 ity and Ensilability in the Laboratory Silos.-During the palatab-
 ility grazing trials in 1932 one end of all rows of crotalaria was
 mowed at a height of 8 to 10 inches above the ground at the
 conclusion of the first grazing period. The two cows in the fol-
 lowing grazing period preferred new growth on the mowed
 plants over that of the more mature ones. With the hay grown
 in 1934 and cut at different stages of development mules ate
 somewhat larger proportions of that harvested in the bud than
 in the pre-bud stage, or of the more mature forage. There was
 excessive refusal of both stems and leaves of C. intermedia hay
 that had been harvested in the pod stage (see Table 15).
 C. intermedia was ensiled in the one-ton silos during 1934 in
four different stages of development; namely the pre-bud, bud,
bloom and pod stages. The silos were opened on December 5,
1934, and weighed amounts of each silage were offered simultan-
eously to 15 Jersey cows and 34 grade Hereford and native cat-
tle. These cattle showed a definite preference for the silage made
from the younger forages, as shown in Table 15. The propor-
tions of the four silages eaten by these 49 animals were: pre-bud
stage, 99 percent; bud stage, 72 percent; bloom stage, 67 percent,
and that in the pod stage of maturity, 38 percent. If smaller
amounts of silage had been offered, it is possible that less would
have been refused by the cattle.