16 Composition and Nutritive Value of Straw. 



Secondly : That the amount of sugar, gum, and other soluble 

 matters in this sample is very small indeed. This I find always 

 to be the case, not only with this, but with other kinds of over- 

 ripe straw. 



Thirdly : That this specimen contained a good deal more indi- 

 gestible woody fibre than wheat-straw, to which it is altogether 

 inferior in feeding qualities. Barley-straw is usually considered 

 superior to wheat-straw as a feeding substance, but the preceding 

 analyses show plainly that this opinion does not hold good in 

 every instance. 



Fourthly : It is worthy of special notice that the part of barley- 

 straw which is insoluble in water, or the crude fibre, on treatment 

 with dilute caustic-potash solution and dilute sulphuric acid, is 

 diminished in quantity to a much smaller extent than the wheat- 

 straw which I submitted to the same process. Whereas these 

 re-agents extracted in round numbers 20 per cent, of digestible 

 fibre from wheat-straw, they furnished not more than 6 per cent, 

 in the case of barley-straw. I do not think, however, that in the 

 latter straw there is anything of a peculiarly hard nature which 

 protects it from the action of these sol vents ; but that the difference 

 in this respect is du6 entirely to the over-ripe condition of the 

 barley-straw and the better condition in which the wheat-straw 

 was examined. Reverse the condition of the two kinds of straw, 

 and it will be more than probable that opposite results will be 

 obtained. 



Lastly : It may be remarked that the proportion of flesh-forming 

 matters in the specimen analysed is considerable, and larger than 

 in wheat-straw. 



Barley-straw yields, when burnt, on an average from 4 to 5 per 

 cent, of mineral matters thus combined. 



Average Composition of the Ashes of Barley-straw reduced from 

 Three Samples. 



Potash ' 18-40 



Soda -68 



Mascnesia 4-13 



Lime 8'08 



Phosphoric acid 3-26 



Sulphuric acid 2'13 



Silica 54-56 



Peroxide of iron 1-81 



Chloride of sodium 6'95 



100-00 



In contrast with the preceding analysis of over-ripe barley- 

 straw, I will now mention the results obtained on analysing a 

 fairly-ripe specimen grown on our farm last season. 



