STRAW. 265 







STRAW. 



Old straw is to be preferred to new straw, because it is 

 dryer and more elastic. Its higher price will be more or 

 less made up by the fact of its containing less water, and 

 consequently being lighter bulk for bulk. The more break- 

 ing and bruising which straw has undergone, the more will its 

 bulk and elasticity become diminished, and consequently the 

 greater will be the quantity required to make a soft bed. 

 On the other hand, the exposure, by bruising, of the porous 

 material in the interior of the stalks, will render the straw 

 more absorbent than if the stalks were uninjured. The bruis- 

 ing of straw also renders it liable to turn mouldy by breaking 

 the continuity of its hard polished surface, which protects the 

 soft and more absorbent inner substance of the stalk from 

 the action of moisture and disease germs. The foreign straw 

 which is brought over in compressed bales is much inferior 

 to good English straw, chiefly on account of the bruising 

 it has undergone. Wheat straw being tougher than either 

 oat straw or barley straw, is more economical in use than 

 they are, and having a nicer appearance, is justly preferred. 

 The husk of barley is so hard that it sometimes wounds 

 the eyes of horses which sleep on barley straw, and not 

 unfrequently produces grave digestive troubles in animals 

 that eat it. Again, the ears of barley are probably the 

 most common bearers of the fungus which give rise to that 

 very serious, though rare, equine disease, actinomycosis. 

 Persons who have employed it say that rye straw is inferior 

 to barley straw on account of its being harder and rougher. 

 I have found rice straw to be more brittle than oat or 

 barley straw, and consequently to be less economical. 



Whatever kind of straw is used for a bedding, it should be 

 of good quality, so that it may be as little liable as possible to 

 cause indigestion or other diseases in the event of horses 



