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F ACTORS such as soil fertility and stage of harvest are recognized as having varying influences on the yield, quality, and longevity of different species of forage plants. Information is needed as to the specific effect and possible inter-relationships of management factors on forage plants. The objective of the experiments reported in this paper was to determine the effect of various fertilizer treatments on nitrogen and carbohydrate fopd reserves in timothy corms and roots when harvested at various stage of maturity. The effect of these treatments under field plot conditions on yi~ld per acre of forage and protein is presented. REVIEW OF LITERATURELiterature related to food reserves in plants is. extensive. Information pertaining to timothy will only be considered in this review.Waters ( 11) observed that persistence of timothy stands could be enhanced by allowing plants to mature, thus promoting development of "bulbs" for propagation at the base of old timothy plants. In contrast, Wiggans (12) advanced the premise that early cuttings were beneficial in maintaining timothy stands, since weed competition would be eliminated; and he maintained that allowing plants to mature seed resulted in reduced plant vigor. Throwbridge et a/. ( 9) found the greatest number of "bulbs" present when timothy was cut just out of bloom. Further evidence indicated that material stored in the timothy "bulb" was largely nitrogenous matter and nitrogen-free-extract. Sprague and Hawkins ( 8) noted that the protein content of timothy could be increased by application of soluble nitrogenous fertilizers 2 to 3 weeks prior to harvest. A practical method of improving storage reserves in timothy corms is thus implied. PROCEDURESTerminology used herein regarding the timothy plant is according to recommendations by Evans ( 3) with the exception that corm will be substituted for haplacorm. The term, reserve, shall be used to include nitrogen compounds and carbohydrates stored and utilized by a plant for maintenance and future growth.A preliminary phase of the investigation involved an exploratory greenhouse study during 1940. The continuous flow method of Shive and Stahl ( 4) was utilized with 3 levels of nitrogen consisting of 14 ppm. (changed to 21 ppm. when nitrogen deficiency was evident), 126 ppm. and 315 ppm. Partial volume molar concentrations of KoSO,, KH.PO, and MgSO, were constant at 0.001125. Minor elements added were Fe at 1 ppm. and B, Zn,

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KURZFASSUNG/SUMMARY