OF STRAW, ITS VALUE, AND USES. 379 



pulse, per statute acre ; 2. The value of the different 

 kinds of straw, in so far as that can be ascertained ; and, 

 3. The various uses to which each kind of straw is ap- 

 plicable. 



Although the agricultural practices of the more impro- 

 ved counties in Scotland, have been principally detailed 

 in this work, yet as this subject is not only of great im- 

 portance, but has hitherto been*but imperfectly explain- 

 ed, it is proposed to discuss it at some length, and occa- 

 sionally to mention the different practices both of England, 

 and of the less cultivated districts of Scotland, where the 

 information obtained seems to be material. 



On the Weight of Straw produced by the different Crops, 

 and the average Amount of the whole. 



The quantity of straw prod ucedper acre, differs accord- 

 ing to a variety of circumstances, as, 1. The species of 

 grain, whether wheat, barley, oats, See. ; 2. The different 

 kinds of the same grain, for red oats produce less straw 

 than Angus oats,* &.c. ; 3. The season, for in dry seasons 

 the quantity is less than in the moist ; 4. The soil, for in 

 fertile soils the straw is more abundant than in poor ones ; 

 5. The season when the seed is sown, for spring-sown 

 wheat has less straw than the winter-sown ; and, 6. The 

 manner in which the straw is cut, for an inch or two at 



* Red oats, producing perhaps 7 quarters per acre, will often yield 

 much less straw than Angus oats, producing only five quarters. 



