Straw as Food for Stock. 
117 
"I give about one-third to horses, half to cattle, and only a small pro- 
portion to sheep. It is chaffed, and entirely uncooked ; but when roots are 
plentiful, some root-pulp is mixed with it, aud allowed to remain twenty-four 
hours before it is used. 
"Straw is generally given in this district, mixed with hay without any 
preparation. It is occasionally given almost entirely to store-cattle, that have 
a pasture to run over through the winter ; but it usually keeps them in poor 
condition." 
Mr. T. Duckham, of Baysham Court, Ross, the editor of the 
' Hereford Herd-Book,' is of opinion that straw might be much 
more extensively employed in feeding cattle in conjunction with 
richer food. He says : — 
" Certain remarks which I made, in a paper read before the Brcconshire 
Chamber of Agriculture in 1869, apply directly to your questions, and I cannot 
do better than reiterate them. The food for fattening-stock should be occa- 
sionally changed. My system is an allowance of best quality linseed-cake, 
from 3 lbs. to 5 lbs., given the first thing in the morning, and followed by three 
feeds during the day, of chaff, meal, and pulped roots, and a little hay in the 
rack at night. I like to reduce all com to a fine meal, and mix it with the 
chaff and pulped roots, twelve hours before using, when a slight fermentation 
will take place. That animals, like ourselves, are fond of a change of diet may 
be readily conceived by the eager manner in which they will frequently 
eat their litter when fresh. The year 1861 was one of great trial to the stock- 
owner : the short supply of hay and failing crop of roots rendered it impos- 
sible to carry out my usual system, but the low price of corn and prospect of 
high prices for beef induced me to substitute straw for hay, and, in the absence 
of roots, to make linseed-tea, which was applied boiling hot to the straw-chaff, 
and the meal and a little salt were added. This, with a little hay in the 
rack at night, constituted the food. I never knew steers and heifers feed 
faster than under that system. Steers 2 years 8 months old went out at 307. 
each, and one at 2 years 3 months old at 28/. I have for several years past 
given large quantities of straw-chaff and pulped roots to my store cattle, and 
the experiment of that winter proved to me that much more meat can be 
made than is usually the case, by economising straw and making it a vehicle 
of conveying the more nutritious and fat-forming diet. We must look forward 
to covered homesteads, which will allow more straw to be employed as food." 
Mr. Thomas Simons, writing- from the Dunstable district, 
states that about one-third of the straw is used as food : de- 
scribing his own practice, he says : — 
" I give straw to horses chaffed, to cattle chaffed and whole, to sheep 
chaffed about 10 bushels to the 100 per day. The horses have it mixed with 
the corn, and eat as much as they like, each horse being racked-up with 
14 lbs. of hay at night. Store-beasts in this neighbourhood usually have it 
whole ; all other animals chaffed. When hay is very dear it is often the 
principal food, with cake or corn. I have used straw-chaff for my horses 
mixed with bran, and corn without any hay when that has been dear, and 
found them do well." 
Mr. J. Stratton, describing the state of things in the Marl- 
borough district, Wilts, writes : — 
" Wheat-straw is used very little in this district as food for stock. Barley- 
and oat-straw are used to a considerable extent for cattle, and cut into chaif 
L 2 
