132 



Rye Straw for Harness Making. 



[may, 



able to obtain that there is an opening for a small trade in 

 this product, but it is necessary that attention should be 

 given to securing a variety with longer and stouter straw 

 than that commonly cultivated, while when produced the 

 straw would need to be hand-thrashed and combed, and 

 packed and tied uniformly. In November of last year the 

 difference in price between imported rye straw intended for 

 collar-making and rye straw used for other purposes was 

 some 305. per ton, but this difference is not constant, and 

 foreign rye straw was then very scarce. In February of the 

 present year it would appear that Belgian straw could be put 

 on rail in London at £4 5s. per ton, while English rye straw, 

 not combed but in trusses, was £3 2s. per ton. Occasionally 

 the prices approach one another very closely. A suitable 

 straw, long, hand-thrashed, combed, and uniformly packed, 

 might, possibly, be expected to realise £1 10s. per ton more 

 than the ordinary straw. 



Some indication of the type of straw which is required in 

 order to compete with the imported produce may be gathered 

 from the following description of the straw produced in the 

 North of France : — 



In the Departments of the Pas de Calais and the Nord, a 

 considerable portion of the cereal crops is thrashed by hand 

 because the small producers have not sufficient material for a 

 thrashing machine, and also because it is cheaper to employ 

 hand labour, which is available throughout the winter. The 

 principal reason, however, is because the straw which is 

 thrashed by hand is a very much more remunerative article 

 than if it is machine-thrashed. This applies particularly to 

 rye straw, and to such an extent that many large farmers who 

 could easily hire, or even own, a thrashing machine, fre- 

 quently have all their rye thrashed by hand. The rye in 

 question grows luxuriantly under the favourable conditions 

 prevailing in this district, and has a very strong stem, which 

 frequently exceeds five feet in length. 



The straw is placed on the local market in various forms. 

 It may be (1) machine-thrashed, or (2) hand-thrashed; and 

 hand-thrashed straw may be (a) combed, (b) uncombed, (c) 

 pressed into bales with the thin end of the sheaves turned in, 

 (d) straight pressed, i.e., entirely unbroken, or (e) manufac- 

 tured in various forms, e.g., stitched into mats, &c. 



