376 
nutritive value of oat straw stands very high; for while the former contain but 
little more than one per cent. of flesh-formers, and less than five per cent. of fat- 
formers, the latter includes about four per cent of flesh-formers and thirteen per 
cent. of fat-formers. Again, while the woody fibre in turnips is only about three 
per cent., it constitutes no less than sixty per cent. of oat straw. 
In comparison with hay—considering the prices of both articles—oat straw 
also stands high, as will be seen by comparing the following analysis (mean re- 
sults of twenty-five analyses) of common meadow hay with that of properly 
harvested straw : 
ANALYSIS OF MEADOW HAY. 
Water cn... EO REE Be ena Evala sa ais. enw @ ui S/SUE leat ab ea ENeIeteie te. sie Seevene 14.61 
leshtorming: Compiiwents. Fe... 4. Weekes ae rele wipierreeeeiesle ce > Ae 8.44 
Respiratony and fatty matter....5........25 o's ie aiateteteetoe bee 3 43.63 
Wioody. fibre 2... SAE Oot Ol Hee Gober oEBE Akon cas, peewee 
Mineral matter, (ash) ......... eke PEW tL: Jeo ei See Ge eee 6.16 
100.00 
At one time it was the general belief that woody fibre was incapable of con- 
tributing in the slightest degree to the nutrition of animals, but recent investi- 
gations prove that it is to a certain extent digestible and that the straw of the 
cereals possesses a far higher nutritive power than is commonly ascribed to it, 
and when properly harvested contains from twenty to forty per centum of un- 
doubted nutriment. 
Dr. Cameron recommends that straw should either be cooked or fermented 
before being used, as in either of these states its constituents are far more di- 
gestible than when the straw is merely cut, or even when it is reduced to chaff. 
An excellent mode of treating straw is to reduce it to chaff, subject it to the ac- 
tion of steam, and mix it with roots and oil-cake or corn. A better and cheaper 
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 effectu- 
ally softens and disintegrates the woody fibre and sets free the stores of nutri- 
tious matter which it envelops. 
In an economic point of view the theoretic deductions will be found to har- 
monize with the results of actual feeding experiments. Assuming that one 
hundred parts of oat straw contain, on an average, one part of oil, four parts of 
flesh-formers, ten parts of sugar, gum, and other fat-formers, and thirty parts of 
digestible fibre, and that the price of straw is $7 50 per ton, (the average price 
in Ireland,) we have, at that cost, the following quantities of digestible sub- 
stances : 
ONE TON OF OAT STRAW AT $7 50. 
Oilee 52 sero anee Repay ee ear 3 3 ny ee es Aca OF Bs 22.4 Ibs. 
Flesh-forming principles .......... 0 are jog sone eee SOG 
Sugar, gum, and other fat-forming substances ...........- DBM venaes 
Wisesmile fibre Vv AUS a mixin ete > os ate dete Sin eles 6720 wer 
1008 ce 
Total amount of fat-formers, calculated as starch .......... 952 ~ Ibs. 
Add flesh-furmers ..... ots CUS eR ove: w ca’ w feta apiettomcNege te te terete 3 89.6 « 
Total amount of nutritive matter cue ay ox %% «se siete ie wie 1041.6 « 
A fair sample of linseed cake contains twenty-six parts of flesh-formers, 
