OF STRAW, ITS VALUE, AND USES. 415 



from a given quantity of straw, depends a good deal upon 

 the kind of straw that is used, (as some kinds absorb much 

 more moisture than others), and upon the degree or' care 

 employed in preparing the dung. Speaking generally, Mr 

 Brown reckons ihat the original weight of straw may be 

 tripled, if the manufacturing process be properly conduct- 

 ed, and the dung applied to the ground before its powers 

 are lessened or exhausted. The average weight of straw in 

 well-managed districts, (and it is only to such that the 

 following estirnatt is applicable), may be calculated at 130 

 Scotch stones, of 22 Ib. avoirdupois each, which is one 

 ton, five and one-half hundred weight per acre. He 

 thinks the quantity of dung which may be made from an 

 acre, especially if the dung arising from clover, turnips, 

 and hayyconsumed on a farm is included in the general 

 stock, will be something more than four tons; conse- 

 quentlyythat any farm of decent soil, may be manured at 

 the rate of 12 tons per acre, every third year, from its 

 own produce, provided the corn crops are cut with accu- 

 racy, and the straw be manufactured into dung in a hus- 

 bandman-like manner. 



Mr Hope of Fenton calculates, that from 30 to 35 stones 

 of straw, of 22 Ib. each, used as litter, or in the fold-yard, 

 will produce a ton of well-rotten dung ; consequently, 

 that 130 stones, the average produce of straw, per Eng- 

 lish acre, will give 4 tons. 



If these calculations be right, it would appear that, on 

 a farm where 300 acres are sown yearly, 10O may be ma- 

 nured from its own produce, at the rate of 12 tons per 

 English acre, without any extraneous manure, on the four- 

 course system, 1. Turnips; 2. Wheat or Barley; 3. Clo- 

 ver ; and, 4. Wheat or oats. They are founded, however, 

 upon the principle of converting nearly the whole white 

 straw into dung, by consuming turnips and clover upon 



