OF STRAW, ITS VALUE, AND USES. 383 



straw sold at Oxford, at from L. 2, 2s. to L. 4, 4s. perload, 

 of 22i cwt. The stubbles fetched only 2s. 6d. per acre.* 



In the vicinity of Edinburgh, it is calculated, that aboil 

 or 4 bushels of wheat, produces a kemple of straw, f which, 

 by the regulations of the Edinburgh market, should weigh 

 only 15 stones ; but the farmers generally give about 18 

 stones, for which they get from 13s. to 14s. per kemple, 

 or at the rate of about 9 d. per stone. The amount, con- 

 sequently, may be stated at about L. 6, (calculating the 

 straw at the rate of 1GO stones) per English acre. Wheat- 

 straw is principally used for litter. When threshed by the 

 flail, being considered better for thatch, it fetches from. 

 1 s. to 2 s. more per kemple. 



The straw of beans and peas is seldom sold in Edin- 

 burgh, being applied by the farmers in that neighbour- 

 hood to feeding their own stock. It formerly fetched, 

 when hay was scarce and dear, from 25 s. to 27 s. but 

 at present is only worth about 18 s.per kemple. 



The value of oat straw is higher in the Edinburgh mar- 

 ket than that of wheat, being reckoned more nutritious 

 and palatable, both for cows and horses. It brings from 

 12 s. to 15 s. per kemple, or from 8 d. to Qd. per stone. 

 The crops are so weighty, that the produce, in straw, fre- 

 quently amounts to above L. 7 per English acre ; but from 

 this the expence of carriage and marketing must be de- 

 ducted. 



Dr Skene Keith states that the value of straw in Aber- 

 deenshire is now from L. 1 to L.2 per acre, or from 2s. 6d. 



* Oxford Report, p. 153. 



f This would require 35 five-ninths bushels of wheat, per English acre, 

 (a crop not at all unusual in that neighbourhood), to produce 160 stones 

 of straw. 



