OF STRAW, ITS VALUE, AND USES. 423 



Mr Young observes, that thatched buildings lessen the 

 quantity of dung upon a farm, to such an extent, that they 

 ought to be universally prohibited. No material of that 

 sort, in his opinion, is admissible for that purpose, but fen 

 reeds, and in mountainous districts, heath. 



4. Miscellaneous Uses of Straw* 



It is well known, that various articles are manufactured 

 from straw, such as bonnets and other ornaments for the 



stalk is preserved ; and it is considered to be more valuable for the pur- 

 pose of thatching buildings. The provincial term for this management, 

 is called "ear-pitching," and the sheaves thus prepared, are called reed- 

 sheaves. A dozen of sheaves will cover a square of 100 feet. The price 

 of laying them up, (if new work), is 3s. per dozen. A second, or any 

 succeeding coat, 2 s. per dozen. Mending, 4d. per sheaf. The work- 

 men are very dexterous in making, and the thatchers no less expert in 

 using, the straw thus prepared ; and whilst it makes a covering more 

 durable, it is said, than any other of straw, it is of such superior neat- 

 ness, that the thatched buildings of Somerset, excite the admiration of 

 every stranger, coming from districts where this practice is unknown. 

 It is far from being universally admitted, however, even in Somerset, 

 that the unthreshed straw is more durable than the threshed. On the 

 contrary, some assert from experience, that the hollow tube of the 

 wheat-straw, admits the air, and that its decay is thereby accelerated. 

 Somerset Report, p. 97, 98. 



It is remarked, in the Middlesex Report, that it would be desirable 

 to know, besides the particulars above stated, the nature of the process 

 of cutting the ears of wheat from the straw, the expence per quarter, 

 the manner of getting the straw out of the ears, &c. It is contended, 

 that unless where the practice of Somerset is adopted, that all straw, 

 intended either for thatching or even for littering stables, should be 

 threshed by the flail, as the threshing-mill bruises and cuts it shorter, 

 and hence that it is sooner soiled. 



