26 Composition and Nutritive Value of Straw. 



Potash 11-78 



Soda 6-55 



Lime 40-34 



Magnesia 8*30 



Oxide of iron 1-03 



Phosphoric acid 8*26 



Sulphuric acid 6-76 



Silica 10-66 



Chloride of sodium 6-32 



100-00 



The ash of pea-straw differs mainly from the ashes of oats, 

 wheat, or barley straw by containing much less silica, and more 

 lime and phosphoric acid. 



Pea-straw, it will be seen, is richer in oil and albuminous or 

 flesh-forming matters than the straw of the cereal crops ; and as it 

 moreover contains less indigestible woody fibre, and when pro- 

 perly harvested is tender and much liked by sheep and cattle, 

 it is much preferable as a feeding material. Good pea-straw 

 indeed is a capital article of food for ewes at the lambing season, 

 for it contains almost as much flesh-forming matter as meadow- 

 hay, and, under favourable circumstances, a large proportion of 

 sugar and mucilage. The preceding analysis agrees tolerably 

 well with the following results, obtained in analysing a specimen 

 of pea-straw : 



Pea-straw taken from the Farm-buildings, October 31st, 1861. 



General Composition. 



Water 17-40 



Substances soluble in water 11*77 



Substances insoluble in water 70*83 



100-00 

 Detailed Composition. 



Water 17-40 



Oil 1-57 



* Albuminous compounds 6-44 



Gum, sugar, and crude cellular and woody fibre 68-63 



Mineral matters .. 5*96 



100-00 

 *Containing nitrogen 1 03 



This specimen, it will be seen, contains less oil and nitrogenised 

 matter than that grown in 1860, to which it is decidedly superior 

 in feeding qualities. 



* On the whole pea-haulm is the most nutritious of all kinds of 

 straw. Its superiority over bean-straw is admitted by all prac- 

 tical farmers; although, according to an analysis by Professor 

 Way, bean-straw would appear greatly to surpass pea-straw, and 

 to approximate to the value of hay, if not to surpass it. 



