CHAP. XL FEEDING VALUES OF STRAWS. 181 



1. Pea-haulm. 



2. Oat straw, 



3. Bean straw, with the pods. 



4. Barley straw. 



5. Wheat straw. 



6. Bean straw, without the pods. 



The refuse of the cereals, as bran and malt-dust, or combs, is highly 

 valuable for feeding purposes ; both bran and malt-dust are used by 

 Mr. Horsfall in his well-known system of feeding dairy cows. 



Dr. Anderson closely investigated the subject of the feeding 

 value of straws, and showed that the value is much higher than has 

 been generally supposed. There can be no doubt at all events that 

 the using it as litter, merely that is as bedding in stalls, or to be 

 trampled under foot in courts, is not the most economical way to 

 consume straw, and Dr. Anderson did good service to agriculture in 

 pointing out how straws can best be used. After giving analyses of 

 straws, this eminent authority states : 



"Passing from these points to the more general considerations 

 regarding the nutritive properties of straw, it must be observed that 

 their value is much higher than might have been expected. The 

 position in which they stand may be best rendered obvious by a 

 comparison with the turnip. That root contains on the average from 

 1*2 to 1'4 per cent, of albuminous compounds, and 4 or 5 of respiratory 

 elements, of which 3 or 4 are soluble in water. It will be observed 

 then, that, as far as nutritive matters are concerned, straws generally 

 stand far above the turnip, surpassing it slightly in the albuminous, 

 and enormously in the respiratory, elements. As a source of these 

 elements they must hold a very high position, and in this respect are 

 surpassed only by the grains and some few other substances. When 

 compared with roots and grains, however, a very marked difference 

 may be observed between the relative proportions of these two great 

 classes of nutritive elements. The ratio of the albuminous to the 

 respiratory compounds is, in the turnip, as 1 to 3 in round numbers, 

 and in the grains as 1 to 7 that is to say, for every pound of 

 albuminous compounds contained in a grain, as wheat for example, 

 there will be about 7 pounds of respiratory compounds. In the straws 

 the proportions are very different, the total respiratory compounds 

 being never less than 10, and sometimes nearly 30 times as abundant 

 as the albuminous. If the soluble portion of these substances only be 

 considered, then the ratio approaches nearer to that observed in the 

 more concentrated foods, though on the whole the excess of respiratory 

 elements is very marked. 



" Returning now to the comparison between the turnip and straws, 

 it is obvious that though the latter greatly exceed the former in the 

 amount of substances which may be absorbed, no one would for a 

 moment think of asserting that straws are therefore of greater nutritive 

 value. The reverse, is undoubtedly the case, and the cause of this is 

 to be found in several considerations. 1st, It must be attributed in 



