Composition and Nutritive Value of Straic. 25 



will furnish more nutriment to horses, which are very fond of 

 oat-hay, than when harvested in the usual way. A good deal of 

 expense incurred in threshing the crop and cutting it into chaff 

 would- be saved were this plan adopted. 



8. We see that the crude woody fibre of oat-straw is rendered 

 soluble to a considerable extent by dilute alkaline and acid 

 liquids. Indeed it appears to be more easily acted upon by 

 these solvents than that of wheat-straw, ; and the preference given 

 to oat-straw as a feeding material may be partly due to this cir- 

 cumstance. 



9. The proportions of mineral matters here exhibited do not 

 greatly vary ; but there is a material difference in the qualita- 

 tive composition of the ash. In the green sample nearly 6 per 

 cent, of soluble ash-constituents, and only 1 per cent, of insoluble 

 mineral matters, exist; whilst the fairly ripe contains 3A of 

 soluble, and 2-^ of insoluble, mineral matters, and the over- 

 ripe only 2 iV per cent, of soluble, and 4 per cent, of insoluble. 



PEA-STRAW. 



An excellent sample of pea-straw, grown in 1860, on analysis, 

 gave the following results : 



General Composition. 



Water 16*02 



Soluble organic matter 11*28 



Soluble inorganic matter 2*72 



Insoluble organic matter 67*77 



Insoluble mineral matter .. . 2*21 



100-00 



Detailed Composition. 



Water ^ 16*02 



Oil 2*34 



* Albumen and other soluble protein compounds 2*96 



Sugar, mucilage, extractive matters, &c. (soluble in water).. 8*32 



Digestible fibre, &c 16*74 



Soluble inorganic matter 2*72 



{Insoluble protein compounds 5*90 



Woody fibre 42*79 



Insoluble inorganic matter 2*21 



100*00 



*Containing nitrogen *474 



f Containing nitrogen *945 



Total percentage of nitrogen .. 1*419 



Equal to protein compounds 8*86 



Total percentage of ash 4-93 



Pea-straw on an average contains about 5 per cent, of ash. 



The composition of the ash has been ascertained by Hertwig, 

 who gives it as follows : 



