Comparative Value of Kentucky Bluegrass, Kentucky 31 Fescue, Orchard Grass, and Bromegrass as Pasture for Milk Cows. II. Effect of Kind of Grass on the Dry Matter and Crude Protein Content and Digestibility and Intake of Dry Matter

Very little data are available concerning the relative nutritive value of pasture grasses for milking cows.A number of workers (2,3,19) have shown that the crude protein content and the digestibility of pasture grasses are highest during the early part of the pasture season and decline as the season advances, with a further decline or increase in late summer or early fall, depending on moisture and temperature conditions.Swift et al. in 1950 (17) and 1952 (16) in a study of the nutritive value of forages reported that Kentucky bluegrass was the highest of six forages studied, including bluegrass, orchard grass, and bromegrass, in metabolizable energy, digestible energy, and total digestible nutrients.Fuelleman and Burlison (5) found that under grazing conditions, on the basis of growth and consumption, bromegrass ranked first, bluegrass and orchard grass about equal, and reed canary grass a poor fourth.Forbes and Garrigus (4) observed that wether lambs consumed considerably more orchard grass than Kentucky 31 fescue.Miller et al. (9), using dry forage, in 1955 reported that the ether extract and crude protein fractions of tall fescue were more digestible than those of orchard grass.