24 Composition and Nutritive Value of Straw. 



of sugar, gum, &c., were found, or a proportion which exceeds 

 that given in the first analysis by 3 per cent. According to the 

 state of maturity, I thus found in four samples of oat-straw the 

 following proportions of sugar and other soluble matters: 1st 

 sample, 16 per cent. ; 2nd sample, 10 per cent. ; 3rd sample, 

 7J per cent. ; 4th sample, 3 per cent. 



Of all the constituents except oil, I consider sugar and other 

 soluble matters by far the most valuable. Quite apart from the 

 larger proportion of albuminous matter, green oat-straw will be 

 found much more nutritious and palatable than fully ripe samples, 

 because it is more succulent, and contains a great deal more 

 sugar and other readily digestible matters. 



The longer the oat-crop is left in the field, the more the pro- 

 portion of sugar and other soluble organic matters diminishes, 

 and with it its nutritive value. Hence it is bad policy to let 

 this crop become too ripe before cutting it down. The loss in 

 nutritive substances in that case is much more considerable than 

 most farmers believe. Practical men, therefore, cannot be too 

 strongly urged to cut their oat-crop before it turns quite yellow, 

 both for the sake of the grain, which is so easily shed, and of 

 the straw, which is so rapidly deteriorated. As soon as the 

 haulm of oats begins to turn yellow, in about two-thirds its 

 length, though the tops be still decidedly green, the harvest 

 should be begun. I have had opportunities of observing over 

 and over again that a larger yield of corn and a better sample 

 will thus be obtained, as well as a far more nutritious straw. 

 The deterioration in the quality of the straw and corn in warm 

 seasons takes place so rapidly that it makes a great practical 

 difference whether the harvest is begun a week sooner or later. 



7. In the less succulent samples a larger proportion of indi- 

 gestible woody fibre may naturally be expected. That it exists, 

 this series of analyses places beyond a doubt ; for whilst the 

 green sample contained only 25 per cent, of indigestible woody 

 fibre, the fairly ripe contained 32, and the over-ripe 42 per cent, 

 in round numbers. 



Every feeder of stock knows that hard woody matter is not 

 easily, if at all, digested, and that sweet-tasting, succulent food 

 containing much sugar is very fattening. It must, therefore, be 

 his interest to prevent as much as is possible the conversion of 

 sugar into woody fibre. Where oats are grown for home con- 

 sumption, I am not at all sure that it is not more advantageous 

 to cut down the crop when the seed is fully formed, but still 

 milky, and the straw is still green, and to make the whole into 

 hay, than to let the crop get ripe, and afterwards to thresh out 

 the corn. I am inclined to think an acre of oats made into hay 



