Chapter XXI: Section IV: Straw and Hay

_Straw._--At the present time, when the attention of the farmer is becoming more and more devoted to the production of meat, it is very desirable that his knowledge of the exact nutritive value of the various feeding substances should be more extensive than it is. No doubt, most feeders are practically acquainted with the relative value of corn and oil-cake--of Swedish turnips and white turnips; but their knowledge of the food equivalents of many other substances is still very defective. For example, every farmer is not aware that Indian corn is a more economical food than beans for fattening cattle, and less so for beasts of burthen. Locust-beans, oat-dust, malt-combings, and many other articles, occasionally consumed by stock, have not, as yet, determinate places assigned to them in the feeder's scale of food equivalents.

The points involved in the economic feeding of stock are not quite so simple as some farmers, more especially those of the amateur class, appear to believe. There are many feeders who sell their half-finished cattle at a profit, and yet they cannot, without loss, convert their stock into those obese monsters which are so much admired at agricultural shows. The complete fattening of cattle is a losing business with some feeders, and a profitable one with others. Stall-feeding is a branch of rural economy which, perhaps more than any other, requires the combination of "science with practice;" yet how few feeders are there who have the slightest knowledge of the composition of food substances, or who are agreed as to the feeding value, absolute or relative, of even such well-known materials as oil-cake, straw, or oats! "It is thus seen how inexact are the equivalents which are understood to be established for the different foods used for the maintenance of the animals. It is equally plain, when we reflect on the different methods pursued for the preservation of the animals, that we are still far from having attained that perfection towards which our efforts tend. Visit one hundred farms, taken by chance in different parts of the country, and you will find in each, methods directly opposite--a totally peculiar manner of managing the stalls; you will see, in short, that the conditions of food, of treatment, and of hygiene, remain not understood in seven-eighths of rural farms."[29]

The straws of the cereal and leguminous plants are a striking illustration of the erroneous opinions and practices which prevail amongst agriculturists with respect to particular branches of their calling. The German farmers regard straw as the most valuable constituent of home-made fertilisers, and their leases in general prohibit their selling off the straw produced on their farms. Yet chemical analysis has clearly proved that the manurial value of straw is perfectly insignificant, and that, as a constituent of stable manure, it is chiefly useful as an absorbent of the liquid egesta of the animals littered upon it. As food for stock, straw was at one time regarded by our farmers as almost perfectly innutritious; some even went so far as to declare that it possessed no nutriment whatever, and even those who used it, did so more with the view of correcting the too watery nature of turnips, than with the expectation of its being assimilated to the animal body. Within the last few years, however, straw has been largely employed by several of the most intelligent and successful feeders in England, who report so favorably upon it as an economical feeding stuff, that it has risen considerably in the estimation of a large section of the agricultural public. Now, even without adopting the very high opinion which Mechi and Horsfall entertain relative to the nutritive power of straw, I am altogether disposed to disagree with those who affirm that its application should be restricted to manurial purposes. Unless under circumstances where there is an urgent demand for straw as litter, that article should be used as food for stock, for which purpose it will be found, if of good quality, and given in a proper state, a most economical kind of dry fodder--equal, if not superior to hay, when the prices of both articles are considered.

The composition of straw is very different from that of grain. The former contains no starch, but it includes an exceedingly high proportion of woody fibre; the latter is in great part composed of starch, and contains but an insignificant amount of woody fibre. Dr. Voelcker, the consulting chemist to the Royal Agricultural Society of England, and Dr. Anderson, chemist to the Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland, have made a large number of analyses of the straws of the cereal and leguminous plants, the results of which are of the highest interest to the agriculturist. In the following tables the more important results of these investigations are given:--

ANALYSES OF STRAW, BY DR. VOELCKER.

+--------------------------+----------+--------+--------+--------+--------+
| | | | | | |
| | No. 1. | No. 2. | No. 3. | No. 4. | No. 5. |
| | | | | | |
| | Wheat, | Wheat, | Barley,| Barley,| Oat, |
| |just ripe | over | dead |not too | cut |
| | and well | ripe. | ripe. | ripe. | green. |
| |harvested.| | | | |
+--------------------------+----------+--------+--------+--------+--------+
| Water | 13.33 | 9.17 | 15.20 | 17.50 | 16.00 |
| Albumen, and other | | | | | |
| protein compounds:-- | | | | | |
| _a_. Soluble in water | 1.28 | 0.06 | 0.68 | \ | 5.51 |
| | | | | }5.73 | |
| _b_. Insoluble in water| 1.65 | 2.06 | 3.75 | / | 2.98 |
| | | | | | |
| Oil | 1.74 | 0.65 | 1.36 | 1.17 | 1.57 |
| Sugar, mucilage, | | | | | |
| extractive matters, | | | | | |
| &c. (soluble in water) | 4.26 | 3.46 | 2.24 |\ | 16.04 |
| Digestible woody | | | | \ | |
| fibre and cellulose | 19.40 |\ | 5.97 | }71.44| 26.34 |
| Indigestible | | }82.26 | | / | |
| fibre &c. | 54.13 |/ | 66.54 |/ | 24.86 |
| Inorganic matter:-- | | | | | |
| _a._ Soluble | 1.13 | 1.29 | 2.88 | \ | 5.76 |
| | | | | }4.52 | |
| _b._ Insoluble | 3.08 | 1.05 | 0.38 | / | 0.94 |
| +----------+--------+--------+--------+--------+
| | 100.00 | 100.00 | 100.00 | 100.00 | 100.00 |
+--------------------------+----------+--------+--------+--------+--------+

+--------------------------+----------+--------+--------+--------+--------+
| | | | | | |
| | No. 6. | No. 7. | No. 8. | No. 9. | No. 10.|
| | | | | | |
| | Oat, cut | Oat, | Bean. | Pea. | Flax |
| | when | over | | | Chaff. |
| | fairly | ripe. | | | |
| | ripe. | | | | |
+--------------------------+----------+--------+--------+--------+--------+
| Water | 16.00 | 16.00 | 19.40 | 16.02 | 14.60 |
| Albumen, and other | | | | | |
| protein compounds:-- | | | | | |
| _a_. Soluble in water | 2.62 | 1.29 | 1.51 | 3.96 | \ |
| | | | | | }4.75 |
| _b_. Insoluble in water| 1.46 | 2.36 | 1.85 | 5.90 | / |
| | | | | | |
| Oil | 1.05 | 1.25 | 1.02 | 2.34 | 2.82 |
| Sugar, mucilage, | | | | | |
| extractive matters, | | | | | |
| &c. (soluble in water) | 10.57 | 3.19 | 4.18 | 8.32 | 8.72 |
| Digestible woody | | | | | |
| fibre and cellulose | 30.17 | 27.75 | 2.75 | 17.74 | 18.56 |
| Indigestible | | | | | |
| fibre &c. | 31.78 | 41.82 | 65.58 | 42.79 | 43.12 |
| Inorganic matter:-- | | | | | |
| _a._ Soluble | 3.64 | 2.26 | 2.31 | 2.72 | 4.07 |
| | | | | | |
| _b._ Insoluble | 2.71 | 4.08 | 1.40 | 2.21 | 3.36 |
| +----------+--------+--------+--------+--------+
| | 100.00 | 100.00 | 100.00 | 100.00 | 100.00 |
+--------------------------+----------+--------+--------+--------+--------+

[...] This table contains in a condensed form all the results of
Voelcker's analyses of the straws which are given in his paper published
in the _Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England_, vol. xxii.,
part 2. 1862.

Nos. 5, 6, and 7 were analysed shortly after being cut, when they
contained a high proportion of water. They have, therefore, been
calculated to contain 16 per cent. of moisture so as to arrive at
accurate relative results.

ANALYSES OF STRAW, BY DR. ANDERSON.

+----------------+-----------------+---------+-----------------+--------+
| | | | | |
| | | Wheat | | Barley |
| | Wheat from | from | Barley from | from |
| | East Lothian. | Kent. | East Lothian. | Kent. |
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
| +--------+--------+---------+--------+--------+--------+
|Water | 10.62 | 10.93 | 11.15 | 11.44 | 11.15 | 11.10 |
|Flesh-formers-- | | | | | | |
| Soluble | 0.86 | 0.37 | 1.37 | 1.42 | 0.39 | 0.66 |
| Insoluble | 0.51 | 1.12 | 1.00 | 1.54 | 1.12 | 1.98 |
|Oil | 0.80 | 1.00 | 1.50 | 0.97 | 0.88 | 1.05 |
| | | | | | | |
|Respiratory | | | | | | |
| elements-- | | | | | | |
| Soluble | 2.68 | 6.68 | 5.26 | 3.22 | 6.11 | 4.56 |
| Insoluble | 44.88 | 36.43 | 38.79 | 35.56 | 38.38 | 27.95 |
|Woody fibre | 32.88 | 34.78 | 35.01 | 41.34 | 36.62 | 47.53 |
|Ash | 6.20 | 8.04 | 6.32 | 4.21 | 5.62 | 4.85 |
| +--------+--------+---------+--------+--------+--------+
| | 99.43 | 99.35 | 100.40 | 99.70 | 100.27 | 99.68 |
+----------------+--------+--------+---------+--------+--------+--------+

+----------------+---------------+--------+----------+---------+--------+
| | | Oat | Oat from | | Oat |
| | Sandy Oat | from | 850 feet |Oat from | from |
| | from | Sea | above |Mellhill,| Kent |
| | East Lothian. | level |Sea level,|Inchture,| (White |
| | | East | East |Scotland.| one |
| | |Lothian.| Lothian. | | side.) |
| +-------+-------+--------+----------+---------+--------+
|Water | 11.70 | 10.95 | 12.60 | 11.28 | 11.70 | 10.55 |
|Flesh-formers-- | | | | | | |
| Soluble | 0.40 | 1.03 | 0.67 | 0.92 | 0.95 | 0.33 |
| Insoluble | 0.93 | 0.43 | 0.38 | 0.39 | 1.21 | 0.33 |
|Oil | 1.45 | 0.77 | 1.25 | 1.36 | 1.60 | 1.00 |
| | | | | | | |
|Respiratory | | | | | | |
| elements-- | | | | | | |
| Soluble | 10.12 | 6.90 | 7.16 | 7.42 | 12.01 | 6.23 |
| Insoluble | 33.52 | 34.77 | 24.28 | 29.55 | 23.35 | 30.95 |
|Woody fibre | 35.36 | 38.73 | 48.49 | 44.40 | 45.27 | 47.40 |
|Ash | 6.36 | 6.28 | 5.11 | 5.07 | 3.95 | 3.62 |
| +-------+-------+--------+----------+---------+--------+
| | 99.84 | 99.86 | 99.94 | 100.39 | 100.14 | 100.41 |
+----------------+-------+-------+--------+----------+---------+--------+

[...] This table is compiled from Dr. Anderson's paper in the
Transactions of the Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland
for March, 1862.

Many very important conclusions are deducible from the facts recorded in these valuable tables. We learn from them that straw is more nutritious when it is cut in the ripe state than when it is permitted to over-ripen, and that _green_ straw contains a far greater amount of nutriment than is found even in the ripe article. It appears also that the least nutritious kind of straw equals the best variety of turnips in its amount of flesh-forming principles, and greatly exceeds them in its proportion of fat-forming elements. We further learn that in general the different kinds of straw will be found to stand in the following order, the most nutritious occupying the highest, and the least nutritious the lowest place:--

1. Pea-haulm.
2. Oat-straw.
3. Bean-straw with the pods.
4. Barley-straw.
5. Wheat-straw.
6. Bean-stalks without the pods.

It is a matter to be regretted that we possess so little accurate knowledge of the chemical composition of the plants cultivated in Ireland. No doubt the analyses of English grown wheat, beans, mangels, and other plants, serve to give us a general idea of the nature of those vegetables when produced in this country. But this kind of information, though very important, must necessarily be defective, as differences in climate modify--often to a considerable extent--the composition of almost every vegetable. Thus, the results of Anderson's analyses prove Scotch oats to be superior, as a feeding stuff, to Scotch barley, whilst, according to Voelcker and the experience of most English feeders, the barley of parts of England is superior to its oats. It follows, then, that whilst the results of the analyses of straw, made by Voelcker and Anderson are of great interest to the Irish farmer, they would be still more important to him had the straw to which they relate been the produce of Irish soil. In order, therefore, to enable the Irish farmer to form a correct estimate of the value of his straw, we should put him in possession of a more perfect knowledge of its composition than that which is derivable from the investigations to which I have referred. The straws of the cereals--which alone are used here to any extent--should be analysed as carefully and as frequently as those of Great Britain have been; and if such were done, I have no doubt but that the results would indicate a decided difference in composition between the produce of the two countries. Some time ago I entered upon what, at the time, I had intended should be a complete investigation into the composition of Irish straws; but which want of time prevented me from making more than a partial one. The results are given in the following tables:--

ANALYSES OF IRISH OAT-STRAW.

--------------------------------+--------+------------------------------
| No. 1. |Obtained in the Dublin Market.
|From Co.+---------+---------+----------
|Wicklow.| No. 2. | No. 3. | No. 4.
--------------------------------+--------+---------+---------+----------
Water | 14.00 | 14.00 | 14.00 | 14.00
Flesh-forming principles-- | | | |
_a._ Soluble in water | 4.08 | 2.02 | 2.04 | 1.46
_b._ Insoluble in water | 2.09 | 3.16 | 3.00 | 2.23
Oil | 1.84 | 1.40 | 1.26 | 1.00
Sugar, gum, and other | | | |
fat-forming matters | 13.79 | 12.67 | 10.18 | 11.16
Woody fibre | 59.96 | 61.79 | 65.45 | 65.29
Mineral matter | 4.24 | 4.96 | 4.07 | 4.86
+--------+---------+---------+----------
| 100.00 | 100.00 | 100.00 | 100.00
--------------------------------+--------+---------+---------+----------

All the specimens of oats, the analyses of which are given in the preceding table, are assumed to contain 14 per cent. of water, in order the more correctly to compare their nutritive value. No. 1 contained 18.23 per cent. of water; No. 2, 12.90; No. 3, 12.74; and No. 4, 12.08. Oat straw, before its removal from the field, often contains nearly half its weight of water; but after being for some time stacked, the proportion of moisture rarely exceeds 14 per cent.

ANALYSES OF IRISH WHEAT-STRAW.

-----------------------+--------+-------+-------+-----------------------
| No. 1. | No. 2.|No. 3. |
| Green, | | | Obtained in the Dublin
|changing| | | Markets.
| to | | Over |
| yellow.| Ripe. | Ripe. +-----------------------
| County |County |County | | |
|Kildare.|Dublin.|Dublin.| No. 4.| No. 5.| No. 6.
-----------------------+--------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------
Water | 13.00 | 13.15| 12.14| 10.88| 11.22| 12.12
Flesh-forming | | | | | |
principles-- | | | | | |
_a._ Soluble in | | | | | |
water | 1.25 | 0.98| 0.44| 0.06| 0.42| 0.30
_b._ Insoluble in | | | | | |
water | 1.26 | 1.40| 1.41| 1.90| 1.00| 1.76
Oil | 1.22 | 1.13| 1.14| 0.90| 1.17| 1.08
Sugar, gum, and other | | | | | |
fat-forming matters | 4.18 | 3.98| 3.88| 4.08| 3.89| 4.30
Woody fibre | 75.84 | 76.17| 77.76| 78.67| 79.18| 77.15
Mineral matter (ash) | 3.25 | 3.19| 3.23| 3.51| 3.12| 3.29
+--------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------
| 100.00 | 100.00| 100.00| 100.00| 100.00| 100.00
-----------------------+--------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------

The results of these analyses are somewhat different from those arrived at by Voelcker and Anderson. They show that properly harvested Irish oat and wheat straws are far more valuable than those of Scotland, and somewhat less nutritive than those produced in England. They also show that wheat-straw is allowed to over-ripen, by which a very large proportion of its nutritive principles is eliminated and altogether lost, and a considerable part of the remainder converted into an insoluble, and therefore less easily digestible state. Nor is there any advantage to the grain gained by allowing it to remain uncut after the upper portion of the stem has changed from a green to a yellowish color; on the contrary, it also loses a portion--often a very considerable one--of its nitrogenous, or flesh-forming constituents. It has been clearly proved that wheat cut when green, yields a greater amount of grain, and of a better quality too, than when it is allowed to ripen fully; yet, how often do we not see fields of wheat in this country allowed to remain unreaped for many days, and even weeks, after the crop has attained to its full development!

The oat-straw obtained in the Dublin Market proved less valuable than the green straw which I selected myself from a field of oats; but the discrepancy between them was far less than between the nearly ripe wheat-straw and the straw of that plant purchased in Dublin. During visits which I have paid in harvest-time to the North of Ireland, I noticed that the oats were generally cut whilst green, whereas wheat was almost invariably left standing for at least a week after its perfect maturation, probably for the following reasons:--Firstly, because oats are more liable to shed their seed; secondly, because there is a greater breadth of that crop to be reaped, which necessitates an early beginning; and, lastly, because most farmers know that over-ripe oat-straw is worth but little for feeding purposes, as compared with the greenish-yellow article.

As compared with white turnips, the nutritive value of oat-straw stands very high, for whilst the former contains but little more than 1 per cent. of flesh-formers, and less than 5 per cent. of fat-formers, the latter includes about 4 per cent. of flesh-formers, and 13 per cent. of fat-formers. Again, whilst the amount of woody fibre in turnips is only about 3 per cent., that substance constitutes no less than 60 per cent. of oat-straw. In comparison with hay--taking into consideration the prices of both articles--oat-straw also stands high, as will be seen by comparing the following analyses of common meadow hay with that of properly harvested straw:--

Meadow Hay. Oat Straw.

Water 14.61 14.00
Flesh-forming constituents 8.44 6.17
Respiratory and fatty matters 43.63 15.63
Woody fibre 27.16 59.96
Mineral matter (ash) 6.16 4.24
------ ------
100.00 100.00

Woody fibre is as abundant a constituent of the straw of the cereals as starch is of their seeds, and if the two substances were equally digestible, straw would be a very valuable food--superior even to the potato. At one time it was the general belief that woody fibre was incapable of contributing in the slightest degree to the nutrition of animals, but the results of recent investigations prove that it is, to a certain extent, digestible. In the summer of 1859 two German chemists, Stoeckhardt and Sussdorf, made a series of experiments, with the view of ascertaining whether or not the cellulose[30] of the food of the sheep is assimilated by that animal. The results of this inquiry are of importance, seeing that they clearly prove that even the hardest kind of cellulose--_sclerogen_, in fact--is capable of being assimilated by the Ruminants. The animals selected were two wethers, aged respectively five and six years. They were fed--firstly, upon hay alone; secondly, upon hay and rye-straw; thirdly upon hay and the sawdust of poplar wood, which had been exhausted with lye (to induce the sheep to eat the sawdust, it was found necessary to mix through it some rye-bran and a little salt); fourthly, hay and pine-wood sawdust, to which was added bran and salt; fifthly, spruce sawdust, bran and salt; sixthly, hay, pulp of linen rags (from the paper-maker), and bran. The experiments were carried on from July till November, excepting a short time, during which the animals were turned out on pasture-land, to recover from the injurious effects of the fifth series of experiments--produced probably by the resin of the spruce. The animals, together with their food, drink, and egesta, were weighed daily. The amount of cellulose in the food was determined, and the proportion of that substance in the egesta was also ascertained; and as there was a considerable discrepancy between the two amounts, it was evident that the difference represented the weight of the cellulose assimilated by the animals. In this way it was ascertained that from 60 to 70 per cent. of the cellulose of hay, 40 to 60 per cent. of the cellulose of straw, 45 to 50 per cent. of the cellulose of the poplar wood, 30 to 40 per cent. of the cellulose of the pine, and 80 per cent. of the cellulose of the paper pulp was digested.

In stating the results of his analyses of the straws, Professor Voelcker sets down as "digestible" that portion of the cellulose which he found to be soluble in dilute acids and alkaline solutions; but he admits that the solvents in the stomach might dissolve a larger amount. The results of the experiments of Stoeckhardt and Sussdorf prove that 80 per cent. of the cellulose of paper (the altered fibre of flax) is assimilable, and it is, therefore, not unreasonable to infer that the cellulose of a more palatable substance than paper might be altogether digestible.

The facts which I have adduced clearly prove that the straws of the cereals possess a far higher nutritive power than is commonly ascribed to them; that when properly harvested they contain from 20 to 40 per cent. of undoubted nutriment; and lastly, that it is highly probable that their so-called indigestible woody fibre is to a great extent assimilable.

The composition of cellulose is nearly, if not quite, identical with that of starch, and it may therefore be assumed to be equal in nutritive power to that substance--that is, it will, if assimilated, be converted into four-tenths of its weight of fat. Now as cellulose forms from six-tenths to eight-tenths of the weight of straws, it is evident that if the whole of this substance were digestible, straws would be an exceedingly valuable fattening food. When straw in an unprepared state is consumed, there is no doubt but that a large proportion of its cellulose remains unappropriated--nay more, it is equally certain that the hard woody fibre protects, by enveloping them, the soluble and easily digestible constituents of the straw from the action of the _gastric juice_. I would, therefore, recommend that straw should be either cooked or fermented before being made use of; in either of these states its constituents are far more digestible than when the straw is merely cut, or even when it is in the form of chaff. An excellent mode of treating straw is to reduce it to chaff, subject it to the action of steam, and mix it with roots and oil-cake or corn. Mr. Lawrence, of Cirencester, one of the most intelligent agriculturists in England, cooks his chaff, which he largely employs, in the following manner:--"We find that, taking a score of bullocks together fattening, they consume, per head per diem, 3 bushels of chaff mixed with just half a hundred-weight of pulped roots, exclusive of cake or corn; that is to say, rather more than 2 bushels of chaff are mixed with the roots, and given at two feeds, morning and evening, and the remainder is given with the cake, &c., at the middle day feed, thus:--We use the steaming apparatus of Stanley, of Peterborough, consisting of a boiler in the centre, in which the steam is generated, and which is connected by a pipe on the left hand with a large galvanised iron receptacle for steaming food for pigs, and on the right with a large wooden tub lined with copper, in which the cake, mixed with water, is made into a thick soup. Adjoining this is a slate tank of sufficient size to contain one feed for the entire lot of bullocks feeding. Into this tank is laid chaff, about one foot deep, upon which a few ladles of soup are thrown in a _boiling state_; this is thoroughly mixed with the chaff with a three-grained fork, and pressed down firm; and this process is repeated until the slate tank is full, when it is covered down for an hour or two before feeding time. The soup is then found entirely absorbed by the chaff, which has become softened, and prepared for ready digestion." A cheap plan is to mix the straw with sliced roots, moisten the mass with water, and allow it to remain until a slight fermentation has set in. This process effectually softens and disintegrates, so to speak, the woody fibre, and sets free the stores of nutritious matters which it envelopes. Some farmers who hold straw in high estimation, prefer giving it just as it comes from the field; they base this practice on the belief that Ruminants require a bulky and solid food, and that their digestive powers are quite sufficient to effect the solution of all the useful constituents of the straw. It may be quite true that cattle, as asserted, can extract more nutriment out of straw than horses can, but that merely proves the greater power of their digestive organs. No doubt the food of the Ruminants should be bulky; but I am quite sure that cooked or fermented straw is sufficiently so to satisfy the desire of those animals for quantity in their food.

So far as I can learn, all the carefully conducted feeding experiments to test the value of straw which have been made, have yielded results highly favorable to that article. Mr. Blundell, in a paper on "The Use and Abuse of Straw," read before the Botley (Hampshire) Farmer's Club, states that in his experience he found straw to be more economical than its equivalent of roots or oil-cake, in the feeding of all kinds of cattle:--

I find (says Mr. Blundell) that dairy cows, in the winter months,
if fed on large quantities of roots, particularly mangels and
carrots, will refuse to eat straw almost entirely, and become
very lean; but they will always eat a full portion of sweet,
well-harvested straw, when they get a small and moderate allowance
of roots, say, for an ordinary-sized cow, 15 lbs. of mangel three
times per day, the roots being given whole, just in the state they
come from the store heap. Again, calves and yearlings being fed
with roots in the same way, will eat a large quantity of straw, and
when they have been kept under cover I have had them in first-rate
condition for many years past. Also, in fattening beasts, when they
get a fair allowance of roots, say 65 to 70 lbs. per day, with
from 3 to 4 lbs. of cake or meal in admixture, they will eat straw
with great avidity, and do well upon it, and make a profit. It is,
however, often the case that bullocks receive 100 lbs., or upwards,
of roots per day, with a large quantity of cake or meal, often
10 or 12 lbs. per day; they will not then look at straw, and are
obliged to be fed with hay. The cost price of these quantities
and kinds of food stands so high that the animals do not yield a
profit; for although they may make meat a little faster, yet the
proportionate increase is nothing compared to the increased cost
of the feeding materials used.

Mr. Blundell gives us also the tabulated results of one of his experiments, which prove that by the use of straw there is to be obtained something more than manure by the feeding of stock:--

COST OF FEEDING AN OX PER WEEK WITH STRAW, ETC.,
ACCORDING TO MR. BLUNDELL.

s. d.
4 lbs. of oil-cake per day,
or 38 lbs. per week, at L10 per ton 2 6
64 lbs. of roots ditto,
or 4 cwt. ditto, at 13s. 4d. ditto 2 8
20 lbs. of straw feeding,
or 1-1/4 cwt. ditto, at 30s. ditto 1 10-1/2
20 lbs. of straw litter,
or 1-1/4 cwt. ditto, at 15s. ditto 0 11

Attendance, &c., per week 0 1
----------
8 0-1/2
Deduct value of manure, per week 1 3-1/2
----------
6 9
Increased value of ox per week 10 0
Deduct cost of feeding 6 9
----------
3 3

If we now turn to the study of the composition of straw regarded from an economic point of view, we shall find that the theoretical deductions therefrom harmonise with the results of actual feeding experiments. Let us assume that 100 parts of oat-straw contain on an average--

1 part of oil,
4 parts of flesh-formers,
10 parts of sugar, gum, and other fat-formers, and
30 parts of digestible fibre;

and if the price of the straw be 30s. per ton, we shall have at that cost the following quantities of digestible substances:--

ONE TON OF OAT-STRAW, AT 30s., CONTAINS:--

lbs.

[31] Oil 22.4
Flesh-forming principles 89.6
Sugar, gum, and other fat-forming substances 224.0
Digestible fibre 672.0
-------
1,008.0
[32] Total amount of fat-formers, calculated as starch 952.0
Add flesh-formers 89.6
-------
Total amount of nutritive matter 1,041.6

We shall now compare this table with a similar one in relation to the composition of linseed cake, which will place the greater comparative value of straw in a clearer light.

A fair sample of linseed-cake contains, centesimally--

Flesh-formers 26
Oil 12
Gum, mucilage, sugar, &c. 34
Woody fibre 6

ONE TON OF LINSEED CAKE, AT L11, CONTAINS:--

lbs.

Flesh-forming principles 582.4
Oil 268.8
Gum, sugar, and other fat-formers 761.6
Woody fibre 74.4
-------
1,687.2
Total amount of fat-formers, calculated as starch 1,508.0
Add flesh-formers 582.4
-------
Total amount of nutriment 2,090.4

These comparisons are very instructive and important. We learn from them that we pay L11 for 2,000 lbs. of nutriment, when we purchase a ton of linseed-cake, whereas, when we invest 30s. in a ton of straw, we receive 1,000 lbs. of digestible aliment. It cannot be said that I have strained any points in favour of the straw; on the contrary, I believe that when that article is cut in proper season and well harvested, its composition will be found far superior to that detailed in the comparative analysis. It must be borne in mind, too, that I take no account of the 30 per cent. of the so-called indigestible woody fibre which straw contains, and which, I believe, is partly assimilable under ordinary circumstances, and could be rendered nearly altogether digestible by proper treatment; on the other hand, I have assumed that the woody fibre of the oil-cake is completely digestible, although I believe it is in reality less so than the fibre of straw.

It is an important point in the composition of oil-cakes, that they contain a large proportion of ready-formed fatty matters which can, with but little alteration, be at once transmuted into animal fat. There are some individuals of the genus _Homo_ to whose stomachs fat, _per se_, is intolerable; nevertheless, as a general rule, fatty substances exercise a favorable influence in the process of digestion, and, either in a separate state, or intimately commingled with other aliments, constitute a large proportion of the food of man. Digestion in the lower animals is, no doubt, similarly promoted by mixing with the aliments which are to be subjected to that process, a due proportion of oily or fatty matter. Straw is relatively deficient in the flesh-forming principles, and abounds in the fat-forming elements--of which, however, the most valuable, oil, is the least abundant. Now, if we add to straw a due proportion of some substance very rich in flesh-formers and oil, the compound will possess in nicely adjusted proportions all the elements of nutrition. Perhaps the best kind of food which we could employ for this purpose is linseed meal. It contains about 24 per cent. of flesh-formers, 35 per cent. of a very bland oil, and 24 per cent. of gum, sugar, and mucilage. Linseed-cake may be substituted for linseed-meal; but the meal, though its cost is 15 per cent. greater, is, I believe, rather the better article of the two. Its flesh-formers are more soluble, and its oil thrice more abundant and far more palatable than the same principles in most samples of oil-cake. An important point, too, is, that linseed, unlike linseed-cake, is not liable to adulteration. As linseed possesses laxative properties it cannot be largely employed; the addition, however, of bean-meal--the binding tendency of which is well known--to a diet partly composed of linseed will neutralise, so to speak, the relaxing influence of the oily seed. If oil-cakes be used as an adjunct to straw, rape-cake will be found more economical than linseed-cake. If it be free from mustard, well steamed, and flavored with a little treacle, or a small quantity of locust-beans, it will be readily consumed, and even relished, by dairy and fattening stock.

_Hay._--There is no food substance more variable or more complex than hay, for under that term are included, not only mixtures of grasses, but also of leguminous plants--clover, for example. The herbage of no two meadows is exactly alike; and the composition of the meadow plants is so greatly modified by differences of climate, soil, and mode of culture, that we have nothing to excite our wonder in the extreme variability of hay.

The composition of the hay made from clover, lucerne, and various other kinds of artificial grasses, is shown in the table--which is based on the results of Way's analyses:--

COMPOSITION OF THE HAY OF ARTIFICIAL GRASSES.

+-------------------------------------------
| KEY:
| A.--Flesh-forming Substances.
| B.--Fatty Matters.
| C.--Respiratory Substances.
| D.--Woody Fibre.
| E.--Ash.
| F.--Water.
-----------------------------+-------+------+-------+-------+------+-----
| A. | B. | C. | D. | E. | F.
+-------+------+-------+-------+------+-----
Trifolium pratense-- | | | | | |
Red clover | 18.79 | 3.06 | 37.06 | 16.46 | 7.97 | 16.6
Trifolium pratense perenne-- | | | | | |
Purple clover | 15.98 | 3.41 | 35.35 | 21.63 | 6.96 | "
Trifolium incarnatum-- | | | | | |
Crimson clover | 13.83 | 3.11 | 31.25 | 26.99 | 8.15 | "
Trifolium medium-- | | | | | |
Cowgrass | 20.27 | 2.97 | 30.30 | 20.12 | 9.67 | "
Do., second specimen | 15.64 | 3.98 | 41.38 | 15.70 | 6.64 | "
Trifolium procumbens-- | | | | | |
Hop trefoil | 17.07 | 3.89 | 36.55 | 18.88 | 6.94 | "
Trifolium repens-- | | | | | |
White trefoil | 15.63 | 3.65 | 33.37 | 22.11 | 8.57 | "
Vicia sativa-- | | | | | |
Common Vetch | 19.68 | 2.55 | 32.87 | 22.82 | 5.42 | "
Vicia sepium-- | | | | | |
Bush vetch | 19.23 | 2.40 | 27.62 | 25.87 | 8.21 | "
Onobrychis sativa-- | | | | | |
Sainfoin | 15.38 | 2.51 | 38.30 | 20.59 | 6.56 | "
Medicago sativa-- | | | | | |
Lucerne | 10.63 | 2.30 | 33.47 | 28.51 | 8.42 | "
Medicago lupulina-- | | | | | |
Yellow clover | 20.50 | 3.38 | 27.76 | 22.66 | 9.03 | "
Plantago lanceolata-- | | | | | |
Rib grass | 11.91 | 3.06 | 33.58 | 27.56 | 7.23 | "
Poterium sanguisorba-- | | | | | |
Burnet | 13.96 | 3.34 | 39.50 | 19.89 | 6.64 | "
Achillea millefolium-- | | | | | |
Millefoil | 8.62 | 2.09 | 37.88 | 27.24 | 7.50 | "
+-------+------+-------+-------+------+-----
Mean | 15.81 | 3.18 | 34.42 | 22.47 | 7.59 | 16.6
-----------------------------+-------+------+-------+-------+------+-----

Very many analyses of hay have been made by British and Continental chemists, the results of which are of great interest to the agriculturist. The composition of the natural and artificial grasses, which is shown in the tables given in pages 158-9 will, if we reduce their per-centage of water to 16, give us an approximation to the composition of hay. If the herbage, too, be sown in the proper time, and the hay-making process be skilfully conducted, there will be but little difference, except in the amount of water, between the plants in their fresh and dry state; but owing to inopportune wet weather, and carelessness in manipulation, excellent herbage is not unfrequently converted into inferior hay.

According to Dr. Voelcker, the average composition of meadow-hay, as deduced from the results of twenty-five analyses, is as follows:--

Water 14.61
Flesh-forming constituents 8.44
Respiratory and fatty matters 43.63
Woody fibre 27.16
Mineral matter (ash) 6.16
------
100.00

Dr. Anderson's analysis of meadow-hay, one year old, and of inferior quality, gave the following results:--

Water 13.13
Flesh-forming matters 4.00
Non-nitrogenous substances 77.61
Mineral matter 5.26
------
100.00

The results of the investigations of Way prove that the herbage of water-grass meadows is more nutritious than that of dry meadows--results perfectly harmonious with the experience of practical men.

It is a somewhat general belief, that the aftermath, or second cutting, is less nutritious than the first cutting; but there appears to be no chemical difference between the two crops, provided they be saved under equally favorable conditions. According to Dr. Anderson, the composition of clover-hay of the second cutting is as follows:--

Water 16.84
Flesh-forming principles 13.52
Non-nitrogenous matters 64.43
Mineral matter (ash) 5.21
------
100.00

I have already shown the importance of reaping in proper season--not less necessary is it to mow before the plants ripen fully, and even before they flower. The results of the experiments of Stoeckhardt, Hellreigel, and Wolff, in relation to this point, are very interesting, and are well worthy of reproduction here.

RESULTS OF STOeCKHARDT'S AND HELLREIGEL'S EXPERIMENTS.

--------------------------+-----------------------++-----------------------
| Stem. || Leaves.
+-------+---------------||-------+---------------
| | Hay. || | Hay.
| Water +--------+------|| Water +--------+------
| in |Flesh- | || in |Flesh- |
| Fresh |forming | Ash. || Fresh |forming | Ash.
| Plant.|Matters.| || Plant.|Matters.|
+-------+--------+------||-------+--------+------
Clover cut on the | | | || | |
4th June, quite young | 82.80 | 13.16 | 9.71 || 83.50 | 27.17 | 9.42
23rd " ready for cutting| 81.72 | 12.72 | 9.00 || 82.68 | 27.69 | 9.00
9th July, beginning to | | | || | |
flower | 82.41 | 12.40 | 6.12 || 77.77 | 15.83 | 10.46
29th July, full flower | 78.30 | 9.28 | 4.63 || 70.80 | 19.20 | 9.58
21st August, ripe | 69.40 | 6.75 | 4.82 || 65.70 | 18.94 | 12.33
--------------------------+-------+--------+------++-------+--------+------

RESULTS OF WOLFF'S EXPERIMENT.

-------------+------------------------------++-----------------------------
| Red Clover. || Alsike Clover.
+--------------+---------------++---------------+-------------
| Beginning | Full || Beginning | Full
| to flower, | flower, || to flower, | flower,
| 11th June. | 25th June. || 23rd June. | 29th June.
+--------------+---------------++-------+-------+------+------
|Fresh.| Hay. | Fresh.| Hay. || Fresh.| Hay. |Fresh.| Hay.
+------+-------+-------+-------++-------+-------+------+------
| pct. | pct. | pct. | pct. || pct. | pct. | pct. | pct.
Water | 83.07| 16.66 | 76.41 | 10.66 || 86.98 | 16.66 | 82.60| 16.66
Ash | 1.43| 7.04 | 1.67 | 5.90 || 1.12 | 7.17 | 1.45| 6.94
Woody fibre | 4.24| 20.87 | 8.88 | 37.37 || 3.79 | 24.26 | 5.11| 24.47
Nutritive | | | | || | | |
substances | 11.26| 55.43 | 13.04 | 46.07 || 8.11 | 51.91 | 10.84| 51.93
-------------+------+-------+-------+-------++-------+-------+------+------

During the operation of converting the grass--"natural" or "artificial"--into hay, there is more or less loss of nutritive matter sustained by fermentation, the dispersion of the smaller leaves by the wind, and other agencies. But this unavoidable loss is trivial when compared with the prodigious waste sustained, in Ireland at least, by allowing the hay to remain too long in cocks in the field. "Within the last three or four years," says Mr. Baldwin, of the Glasnevin Albert Model Farm, "we have made agricultural tours through twenty-five of the thirty-two counties of Ireland; and from careful consideration of the subject, and having in some instances used a tape-line and weighing-machine to assist our judgment, we have come to the conclusion that one-twentieth of the hay-crop of Ireland is permitted to rot in field-cocks. The portion on the ground, as well as that on the outside of the cocks, is too often only fit for manure. And the loss of aftermath, and of the subsequent year's crop (if hay or pasture), suffers to the extent of from sixpence to one shilling per acre. If we unite all these sources, the loss sustained annually in this country is something serious to contemplate. On an average, for all Ireland, it is not under 20 per cent., or a fifth of the actual value of the crop." This is a startling statement; but I do not believe it to be an exaggeration of the actual state of things.

_Damaged Hay and Straw._--Damaged corn and potatoes, so much injured as to be unfit for human food, are generally given, and with apparently good results, to the inferior animals. The "meat manufacturing machines," as the edible varieties of the domesticated animals are now generally termed, are not very dainty in their choice of food; and vegetable substances which would excite the disgust of the lords of the creation are rendered nutritious and agreeable by being reorganised in the mechanisms of oxen, sheep, and pigs.

Now, although it is pretty generally known that musty corn and diseased potatoes form good feeding stuffs, it is not so patent whether or not the natural food of stock, such as hay and straw in a diseased state, is proper food for those animals. This question is worthy of consideration. Firstly, I shall describe the nature of the diseases which most frequently affect fodder; these are, "mildew" and "mould." These diseases are produced by the ravages of minute and very low forms of vegetable life, termed by the botanists _epiphytical fungi_. The mildew (_Puccinia graminis_) generally attacks the grasses when they are growing, and is more frequently met with on rich and heavily manured soils. In localities where heavy night-fogs and dews are of common occurrence, this pest often destroys whole crops. On the other hand, in light, sandy, and well-drained soils, and in warm and dry districts, the mildew is a rare visitant. The "blue mould" (_Aspergillis glaucus_) attacks hay and straw in the stack or rick, and without any regard to their origin--no matter whether they were the produce of the wettest or the dryest, the warmest or the coldest of soils. The chief condition in the existence of the blue mould is excessive moisture. If the hay or straw be too green and succulent when put up, or if rain get at them in the rick, the mould is very likely to make its appearance, and the well-known odor termed _musty_ will speedily be developed.

Neither the mildew nor the mould can, strictly speaking, be regarded as parasites, such as, for example, the flax-dodder, which feeds upon the healthy juices of the plant to which it is attached. It appears to me that the tissues and juices of the fodder-plants decay _first_, and then the mould or the mildew appears and feeds upon the decomposing matter. Now, as these vegetables belong to a poisonous class of fungi, it is more than probable that they convert the decomposing substance of the straw or hay into unwholesome, if not poisonous matter; and it is not unlikely but that the disagreeable odor which they evolve is designed by nature as a sign to the lower animals not to partake of mouldy food. There is no doubt but that most animals will instinctively reject fodder in this state; and the question arises, ought this odour to be destroyed or disguised, in order to induce the animals to eat the damaged stuff? The experience of most feeders who have largely consumed mouldy provender is, that although cattle may be induced to eat it, they never thrive upon such stuff if it form a heavy item in their diet. The reason of this is obvious. The nitrogenous portion of the straw is that which is chiefly assimilated by the fungi. And as this constituent is the one which contributes to the formation of muscle, and is naturally extremely deficient in straw and hay--more particularly the former--it follows that the animals fed upon mouldy fodder cannot elaborate it into lean flesh (muscle).

In the case of young stock, mouldy fodder is altogether inadmissible, for these animals require abundance of flesh-forming materials--precisely those which the fungi almost completely remove from the diseased fodder.

As large quantities of mouldy or mildewed provender are at the present moment to be found in many farmsteads, and as they are unsaleable, and must therefore be made use of in some way at home, it is well to consider the best way to dispose of them. In the case of straw, the greater portion will be required for litter, and if the whole of the damaged article can be disposed of in this way so much the better. If, however, there is more than is necessary for the bedding of the stock, it may be used in conjunction with sound fodder, but always in a cooked state. The greater part, if not the whole, of the diseased nitrogenous part of the straw is soluble in warm water, so that if the fodder be well steamed the poisonous matter will be eliminated to such an extent as to leave the article almost as wholesome as good straw, but not so nutritious. The straw cleansed in this way will be very deficient in flesh-forming, though not in fat-forming power, and this fact should be duly considered when the other items of the animal's food are being weighed out. Beans, malt-combs, and linseed-cake are rich in muscle-forming principles, and are consequently suitable adjuncts to damaged fodder; but the latter should never constitute the staple food, or be given unmixed with some sweet provender.

When the fodder is considerably damaged it becomes, after steaming, nearly as tasteless as sawdust. To this kind of stuff the addition of a small amount of some flavorous material is very useful. For damaged hay, Mr. Bowick recommends the following mixture:--

Fenugreek (powdered) 112 parts.
Pimento 4 "
Aniseed 4 "
Caraways 4 "
Cummin 2 "

A pinch of this compound will render agreeably-flavored the most insipid kinds of fodder.

Mr. Bowick states that he had fed large numbers of bullocks on damaged hay, flavored with this compound, and that their health was not thereby injured in the slightest degree.