382 OF STRAW, ITS VALUE, AND USES.' 



into which it may be converted by littering, or its fitness 

 to be employed as thatch, these being the chief uses to 

 which it is applicable ; but in general its price principally 

 depends on its vicinity to large towns. It is only in situ- 

 ations where foreign manure can be procured easily, and 

 at a cheaper rate than hy converting the straw raised upon 

 the farm into dung, that the sale of straw is ever permit- 

 ted.* 



Straw is generally dearer in London and its neighbour- 

 hood, than in any other part of the kingdom. It is sold 

 there by the load, which consists of 36 trusses, of 36 Ibs. 

 each, or 1296 Ibs. in all. TWO loads of wheat-straw, per 

 acre, are reckoned a tolerable crop, the average price of 

 which, was formerly from 25 to 40s. per load, but it has 

 since risen to L. 3, 12 s.^ At Bath, during the winters of 

 1791 and 1792, wheat-straw was sold as dear as hay, and 

 many innkeepers, from a principle of economy, used hay 

 of a tolerable quality, instead of straw, as litter. In 1806, 



Baron Hepburn observes, that by the usage of East-Lothian, most of 

 the farms in this respect are steelbow, that is to say, the straw of the 

 last crop belongs to the landlord, and is left, after threshing, to him* 

 or to the incoming tenant. 



t Mr Middleton gives the following comparative estimate of the value 

 of straw and corn in Middlesex, about the year 1796, before the late 

 great increase in the price of grain : . 



Per Bushel. 



1. Wheat, at an average for many years, - L. 5 6 



2. Straw, as sold at market in trusses, from 



each bushel of wheat, L. 2 7 



3. Short straw and chaff, - - , o l 



028 



Consequently the entire value of wheat per bu-shel was L. 8 a 



Of this produce the straw formed above a third part. 



