THE EFFECTS OF TEMPERATURE ON DIGESTIBILITY OF TIMOTHY (PHLEUM-PRATENSE L), TESTED IN GROWTH CHAMBERS

Plants were grown in pots outdoors and placed in four growth chambers at different temperatures (day temperatures 9, 13, 17 and 21-degrees-C) and at three different phenological stages. They were then harvested at weekly intervals for up to 6 weeks. Pots left outdoors were harvested at the same time. Digestibility was nearly constant during the 6 weeks at the lowest temperature. The rate of decline in digestibility per day, calculated from that portion of the data which was assumed to be best for such estimation, was 0.060 +/- 0.008 per cent units for each degree increase in temperature. The results indicate that the temperature effect on decline in digestibility is the same for early as for late growth stages.