Practical Ar/ricidturc. 
511 = 24.5 
'rij matter. Practically, we may consider that one-half to three- 
[uarters of the dry matter of oat-straw is available as food, that 
IS, easily digestible by the animal's stomach. But the difficulty 
.ith straw is, how to render its large percentage of carbonaceous 
latter readily digestible ; how, in fact, to make a large mass 
f hard dry material fit for an animal's stomach ; for, prepare 
s we may, there remains alwiiys a large percentage of indi- 
estible woody fibre. 
Straw can be made palatable and savoury, so that animals will Steaming chaff, 
at it without being driven to such fodder by hunger. Mr. 
lorsfall steamed beans and oat-straw, so that it became a 
lain article of his cows' food. And the cost of steaming straw- 
hafF, as ascertained by the experiments of Mr. Henry Evershed, ili- Eveished's 
omes out thus. Employing a large apparatus capable of steam- l"'^'^'^*'^^- 
ig 250 bushels per day, representing at 6 lbs. per bushel, a 
)tal weight of about two-thirds of a ton, enough for 75 head of 
lattle eating 20 lbs. each, the expense was found to be 75. 6f7. 
er ton, in addition to the ordinary cutting of the straw into 
iiaff. The steaming of 5 tons of chaff per week, for 75 beasts 
ould thus cost 6f/. per head per week. Of course, with smaller 
uantities cooked, the expense for fuel and labour would be 
reater. Where the exhaust steam from a fixed engine can be 
tilised, the expense will be very little indeed. 
Mr. Mechi, at Tiptree Hall, Essex, cuts his green food, along Mr. Mechi's 
ith straw, into short chaff, mixes this with meal, cake, pi''''^^'*^^- 
id pulped roots, and heats all together in coppers by the 
aste steam and condensed hot water from his engine. IBean- 
raw, when passed through the chaff-cutter, and then moistened 
ith hot water, becomes soft and mucilaginous, and is highly 
lished by the stock. Wheat-straw is treated in the same way, 
at cut very fine, or an eighth of an inch long. 
It is found, however, that cattle will eat straw-chaff, and do 
ell upon a large proportion of it, if the chaff has been simply 
ixed with pulped roots and subjected to the partial fermen- 
tion which takes place in the mass when allowed to lie for 
veral hours. 
I do not know any men who deal so successfully with their Storing straw- 
heat-straw (as well as barley and pea-straw, which everybody 
lows the value of ) than the best Cambridgeshire farmers. 
IS a regular thing in that county (and now the practice is 
pidly extending) for a compact portable engine and threshing 
achine to travel with one of Maynard's powerful chaff-cutters, 
hey come into a farmyard, thresh a stack, and next day cut 
' the straw stack into chaff. This chaff-machine, however, 
ill cut as fast as an ordinary threshing-machine can thresh, 
d thoroughly sift the chaff from dust at the same time. The 
VOL. XIV.— S. S. 2 N 
