The Proper Office of Sfnnr on (i Fdvm. 
159 
walls should have a coatiiifr of tlio same material, reaching three 
or four feet from the <^rouiul. 
The cost of cutting straw into chalF with a machine driven by 
horse gear is 6s. per ton. And it costs quite as much to cut it 
bv steam power, unless other machinery, covering part of the 
expense, is driven at the same time. Under the most favourable 
circumstances a saving of 2.s". per ton may be effected.* 
It has been suggested that steaming straw renders it more 
wholesome. On trial I find that a large apparatus with two 
"pans" will steam 250 bushels, weighing 1625 lbs., in a day, at 
a cost of 7,v. Gd. per ton. This quantity would be sufficient for 
I'O head of cattle, supposing each to receive 18 lbs. daily. The 
expense of steaming a smaller quantity is much greater in pro- 
portion, as the cost of fuel and attendance cannot be reduced 
in proportion to the smaller quantity of straw steamed. 
The expense of this process is very much reduced, when the 
waste steam of a fixed engine can be employed. 
If it cost Gs. per ton to cut straw into chaff, and an additional 
7s. Gd. per ton to steam it, then it may well be doubted whether 
the cost of preparation is warranted by the value of the article 
when prepared. 
Straw with its 40 per cent of woody fibre is, at the best, any- 
thing but digestible. And we know of no available method for 
converting this fibre into food. Steaming does not appear to do 
much for it except to make it palatable ; and I believe, the 
advantages derived from steaming may be obtained at much less 
cost, by fermentation with pulped roots. 
Fatting cattle can readily be induced to eat from 10 lbs. to 
14- lbs. of straw-chafF by mixing it with their cake or corn. 
Either fatting or store cattle will eat any kind of chafF when 
mixed and fermented with pulped roots. My cows are at the pre- 
* Details of cost of chaff-cutting: — 
£ s. d. 
1 man to feed . . 0 2 0 
1 man to supplj' him .. .. .. ..018 
2 men to straighten the hay or straw .. .. 0 3 4 
1 man to remove chaff to chaif-house .. .. 0 18 
1 man to drive horses . . . . . . ..020 
2 to bring hay or straw from the stack to machine 0 3 4 
1 horse for ditto 020 
3 horses to work by turns, two at a time . . 0 G 0 
For use of chaff-cutter and horse-gear (10 per 
cent, on 25?. if used once a-week) .. .. 0 10 
£13 0 
If 4 tons are cut in a day the cost is 5.?. 9(/. per ton : it would, however, he a long 
day's work to cut that quantity into short chaff fit for feeding cattle with a 2-horse 
gear. If allowance be made for short days in winter, when chaff is most in use, 
and for the interruptions which sometimes occur, 6s. per ton is not too high an 
estimate. — H. E. 
