158 
The Proper Office of Straw on a Farm. 
calculation : cost of food, and value of beef produced. There is 
another : value of the manure. But although nitrogenous and 
other elements are worth something as manure, they are worth 
more in the shape of meat. Cattle should be fed, therefore, so 
that as little as possible goes into the manure. In other words, 
the food should be given in such a form that the animal can 
appropriate the maximum of its most valuable constituents. 
There are few farmers who do not use straw to some extent as 
a substitute for some portion of the more costly articles of diet. 
Perhaps its most general use, in this way, is as food for store 
cattle in combination with roots. If 20 lbs. of straw and 1 cwt. 
of roots cause an ox to thrive as fast as 2 cwt. of roots, then there 
will be a gain to the feeder by using the former. 
Cost of 2 cwt. roots at 7s. Qd. per tou 
Cost of 1 cwt. of roots 
And 20 lbs. of straw at 11. per ton = nearly 
Gain 0 2^ 
This is a saving of 264- per cent, nearly. 
It is a common plan in grazing districts, where roots are 
scarce, to feed store cattle on about 20 lbs. of straw and 3 lbs. of 
^iean meal. I have found them do better on straw, with roots 
instead of meal, even Avhen the supply of roots did not exceed 
J cwt. per head per day. Cattle wintered on straw and meal 
only become "hide bound" with staring coats. 
The cheapest, though not probably the most economical, plan 
of feeding store cattle is to give them whole roots, and to put 
the straw, uncut, into racks, making them, in fact, cut and pre- 
pare their own food. The objection to this plan is the danger 
of choking an animal by a small root, or a portion of one, sticking- 
in the throat. There is great risk of such an accident when the 
roots are small and hard. Mangold, being soft and usually larger 
than turnips and Swedes, may be given with comparative safety. 
Store animals fed in this way will do well, and perhaps as well 
as on prepared food, probably in consequence of the more 
perfect mastication and deglutition of food when taken slowly. 
It was one of the advantages of thrashing by flail that the 
straw came daily from the barn into the racks as it was wanted. 
Under the present system it will generally be found more con- 
venient to cut a portion of the straw stack into chaff at a leisure 
time, and store it away for future use. It is quite indispensable 
to store it in a place free from damp, for unless kept perfectly 
sweet It will disorder the stock, and will not be eaten with 
relish. 
A cheap and excellent floor for a chaff house is made with 
asphalte ; and unless the site is particularly dry, the interior 
s. d. 
.. = 09 
= ^d. 
2ld. 
}» 
