1871. 



XEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



295 



it would probably be best to put other grasses 

 with it to insure a perfect sward. 



Maxket Value of Straw. 

 As to the question of raising straw for 

 market, I feel tliat I am dealing with a subject 

 that will probably provoke criticism. Never- 

 theless I will venture to mention a few_ facts 

 and give a few suggestions and leave it for 

 others to amplify, if disposed to do so. 



A correspondent of yours (Mr. Henry 

 Poor) in his article published to-day on the 

 culture of wheat, furnishes me with a text. 

 One of the reasons he urges for the culture of 

 wheat is the growing demand for straw. I 

 think that is the only argument of much 

 weight he presents for our consideration. 

 Let us see what the figures tell us — for to 

 these we must ever appeal for the solution of 

 about all questions relating to the feasability 

 of our farm operations. Does it pay? is the 

 pivot on which our business operations must 

 revolve. 



Not many years since a friend raised 78^ 

 bushels of merchantable corn to the acre on 

 35 acres. The same season he raised 36 bush- 

 els of wheat to the acre on eleven acres. He 

 told nie he lost by raising the wheat about 

 §34: an acre, making for the whole eleven 

 acres $372 ; in other words, he would have been 

 that much more in pocket if he had put in corn 

 instead of wheat. Wheat was worth at the 

 time $2 per bushel and the straw $6 per ton. 

 The straw was estimated at ten tons to the 

 acre. As the straw was threshed with a ma- 

 chine it was unfit for market. Corn was worth 

 at that time $1.25 per bushel and the fodder 

 $20 to the acre, which was the price of a ton 

 of hay. The usual value of corn fodder in 

 the town where it grew was estimated to be 

 equal to a ton of hay to the acre. 



We will examine the comparative result. If 

 the wheat had been threshed by flail, and the 

 straw neatly baled and sold at the prices now 

 obtained, and the wheat and corn at the prices 

 named above — viz : $72 per acre for the wheat, 

 and for the corn and fodd#r $117.82. Adding 

 the present value of baled straw, $40 a ton, to 

 the value of the wheat, and we have $152 — 

 thus reversing the results obtained by my 

 friend in his operation. Instead of losing 

 $312, he would have gained that amount, mak- 

 ing a difference to him of $744. These figures 

 are startling to us, but how are we to get 

 away from them ? Suppose we reduce the 

 price now obtained for straw one-fourth — we 

 have a gain of $558. 



It will be said we cannot afford to go back 

 to the old method of threshing and discard the 

 machine. Is any one sure this is so? I have 

 often thought it was not, when reckoning up 

 the cost of machine threshing. Suppose you 

 go into a close calulation of all the items of 

 expense incurred by using a machine. If you 

 do not own one yourself you pay by the bush- 

 el, — board men and teams, furnish hands of 



your own, »&c., &c. When you have got all 

 the items together they will, if I am not mis- 

 taken, surprise you. Many reasons miojht be 

 suggested in favor of threshing with ilail that 

 will readily occur to all — not the least of which 

 is that it would furnish work for men desira- 

 ble to retain, at times when no other profitable 

 employment could be provided for them on 

 the farm. 



The quantity of straw that can be obtained 

 from an acre depends of course entirely upon 

 the character of the soil, mode of cultivation, 

 and the skill of the farmer. No one need ex- 

 pect two tons of straw from a sand drift, a 

 bog, or a clay bank. Even the most produc- 

 tive lands will not do it without skilful man- 

 agement. I have known rye to grow seven 

 feet tall, and a piece of two acres to average 

 over six feet in height, yielding sixty-five bush- 

 els of grain, notwithstanding much was wasted 

 by unskilful cradling. I have taken twenty- 

 three bushels of rye and a ton and a half of 

 straw from half an acre of land. I do not 

 think there is much danger incurred by manur- 

 ing lavishly for this crop. From experience 

 with rye sown on land very highly manured 

 for tobacco, I think there need be no fear of 

 manure harming it in any way. I sowed two 

 and a half bushels to the acre, the beginning 

 of September and ploughed under the first of 

 the following June. The straw was about 

 five feet high and seemingly as thick as it could 

 be. Some of the neighbors estimated the 

 quantity of straw as high as four and five tons 

 to the acre, — none of it lodged permanently. 

 Heavy winds and rains occasionally laid it, but 

 it soon recovered. This treatment was tried 

 two seasons in succession on the same field. 

 Many have since adopted the same method 

 with profit and satisfaction. 



Let us suppose we have a meadow we wish 

 to stock anew with grass. Plough it after 

 haying, scatter on the manure and some ashes 

 (if they are of use on your land) sow to rye, 

 without being afraid of getting it in too early, 

 for a good covering of the ground is desirable 

 for winter protection. As soon as the grain is 

 full (not ripe) cut it, as the straw will be 

 tougher and the grain better. Plough under 

 your stubble, put on more manure — plant to 

 turnips, or, better still, have cabbages ready 

 to set, and if they do well, M'ill make you more 

 beef and mutton than any other crop from the 

 same surface. As soon as this crop is off pre- 

 pare for the hay seed. Sow any time after 

 winter sets in "when there is snow on the 

 ground sufficient to hold the seed. Do not 

 be afraid of losing the seed. It is sure 

 to take if your land is in good condition, and 

 ready to mow as soon as your other hay is out 

 of the way. By adopting this suggestion, 

 hay, straw, gram, and cabbage crops are ob- 

 tained in two seasons, and the grass crop se- 

 cured for the third. 



It may appear to some to be needless for 

 me to say that in preparing hay and straw for 



