Nutritive value of lucerne. II. Investigations into the influence of systematic cutting at three different stages of growth on the yield, composition and nutritive value of lucerne

Abstract

The present communication is the second contribution to the study of the nutritive characters of the lucerne crop. It deals with investigations that are the outcome of certain preliminary trials carried out in the 1932 season and reported on in an earlier communication(1). The primary object of the present trials was to investigate the composition, digestibility and nutritive value of the first, second and third growths of lucerne under conditions of systematic cutting at the stages of (1) bud and (2) flower. A determination of the digestibility and nutritive value of lucerne in its pre-budding stage of growth was also made. In addition, account has been kept of the effect of cutting lucerne systematically at certain definite stages of growth, namely, pre-budding, budding and flowering, on the yields per acre of dry matter, starch equivalent and digestible protein, and on the health and vigour of the crop.