Straiv as Food for Stock. 
155 
whole of the straw and hay they grow ; and they force a heavy 
produce of straw by abundant dressings of nitrate of soda. 
There is good reason, therefore, for assuming the correctness 
of Professor Buckman's view, that in many districts straw might 
be sold remuneratively by the farmer, and with great gain 
to the fertility of the farm, if replaced by artificial manures. 
The manurial value of straw is only between 9s. and 13s. a 
ton, so the chemists tell us. Dr. Voelcker, it is true, in his 
paper, published in the ' Journal ' for 1861, considers straw to 
possess a higher value as a fixer of ammonia when used for lit- 
tering than for its own inherent properties. But are there not 
other and cheaper agents for accomplishing this object, such as 
ashes and charred or burnt earth ? Those acquainted with the 
merits of Mr. Moule's dry-earth closets must be well aware of 
this, and Mr. Mechi is in the habit of speaking of the risks 
of fermentation being lessened by the absence of straw from 
farmyard-dung, provided only the excrements be mixed with 
burnt earth. He says :— 
"I attach great importance to these open floors, they will enable us to 
keep almost any amount of stock. The manure requires no turning or fer- 
menting ; there is no expense of littering or frequent removal, and no loss 
of ammonia by fermentation. The comfort is great in every respect. Burnt 
earth is a necessary auxiliary to boarded floors. Gypsum is also useful ; a 
little sprinkled every morning on the boards being highly beneficial : about 
a peck to ten bullocks." 
Of all means for saving litter popular opinion, no doubt, 
endorses with most approval covered yards ; and, probably 
before long, demands will more generally arise to have both 
these and covered rickyards, that farmers may husband their 
produce with slight cost and less' dependence on manual labour. 
An immense sacrifice of straw takes place in every open yard 
for feeding cattle, greatest, of course, where the eaves of out- 
buildings are unspouted. These, enclosing the yard, pour down 
in wet weather a large addition of water to that which falls into 
the yard direct from the clouds. But, under the best circum- 
stances, the waste of open yards is enormous. Mr. Evershed, 
indeed, calculates that in the feeding of 50 head of cattle for six 
months, 100 tons of straw might be saved in litter by placing 
them in covered instead of open yards. 
There is a great deal of available waste materials either on the 
larm or in its neighbourhood, which, if gathered and taken care 
of, might be made in many cases to serve the entire littering re- 
quirements of the covered yard, and save a vast quantity of straw 
irom being used in open yards and cattle-houses. Thus, large 
quantities of dry leaves might be gathered at the close of autumn 
in many places, which, if thatched over, would go a long way 
