12 Composition and Nutritive Value of Straw. 



A glance at these analytical results will show that hard and 

 dry as wheat-straw appears to be, this sample, nevertheless, 

 yielded no less than 5 j- per cent, of organic matters to cold and 

 boiling water. The portion insoluble in water, or th crude woody 

 fibre, amounted to exactly 80 per cent. ; a very large quantity of 

 which, however, when treated with dilute caustic potash, and 

 afterwards with dilute sulphuric acid, nearly 20 per cent, was 

 rendered soluble. The portion thus rendered soluble is described 

 in the preceding and following analyses as digesjtible fibre. After 

 the separation of the insoluble albuminous compounds, mineral 

 matters, oil, and digestible fibre, the proportion of woody 

 matters, as given in the detailed composition, amounted to 

 54 per cent, in round numbers. This is described as indi- 

 gestible woody fibre, but it is quite possible that a considerable 

 portion of it may be assimilated in the animal organism. At any 

 rate it is an interesting fact that a substance so dry and unpro- 

 mising-looking as straw, yielded to water and dilute alkaline and 

 acid liquid nearly one-half of its weight. 



Another point of interest is the appreciable quantity of oil ; it 

 is a nice yellow, sweet-tasting oil, which no doubt renders straw 

 more palatable, to a certain extent more digestible, and certainly 

 more nutritious than it would be without this constituent. In 

 the instance before us we have 1 J per cent, of oil ; a ton of straw 

 accordingly contains 39 Ibs. of oil. 



Again, attention may be directed to the albuminous com- 

 pounds, which amount to 3 per cent, in round numbers. It will 

 be seen that rather more than one-half of these compounds is 

 insoluble, and the rest soluble in water. 



On the whole, wheat-straw having a composition similar to the 

 sample analysed by me is nutritious, and when cut into chaff may 

 be used with advantage as a feeding material. Several partial 

 analyses of other specimens have shown me that this and other 

 kinds of straw vary exceedingly in composition, and consequently 

 also in quality. 



That the composition of the straw is, indeed, influenced by the 

 degree of maturity in which the corn is harvested, will appear 

 clearly on comparison of the following analytical results, obtained 

 on the examination of two samples of wheat-straw, the one fairly 

 ripe, the other over-ripe : 



General Composition of Wheat-straw. 



Ripe. 



Water H .. 8-14 



Substances soluble in water 8*77 



Substances insoluble in water 83*09. 



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