Agricultural Notes on Hertfordshire. 
nir, 
straw grown on the chalk soils at the north of the county is well 
fitted for the purpose. The straw drawers either purchase the 
straw in the hulk, and take away all that suits their purpose, or, 
more commonly, bargain to take, by weight, that only which they 
select. The farmer who has a crop fitted for the purpose has 
it reaped with great care, if the weather be fine, in an early 
stage of its maturity, leaving the sheaves open for a time till 
they are quite dry, and setting aside those in which the straw 
may be twisted ; they are then placed, with care, in the rick 
or mow, so as to come' out quite straight and uninjured. The 
person who is employed by the dealer to draw the straw takes 
a certain quantity from the sheaf and binds it quite tight with 
a leathern strap ; he then places his parcel, thus formed, be- 
tween his legs, takes a few straws at a time just beneath the 
ears and draws them out, until his other hand, to which he 
transfers them, is full, and ties the handful, like a gleaner, 
beneath the ears. The flag is removed by a coarse iron-toothed 
comb, the ears are cut off", and it is then handed to a second 
person, who makes up bundles about a foot in diameter, neatly 
bound with straw. The straw is then in a marketable state, and 
passes to the manufacturer to be sorted, cut into lengths, and so 
fitted for use. The waste is not so great as might be supposed, 
all the chaff and caving is left behind with the ears, and with 
much of the rough straw, which may be converted into manure. 
The operation puts the farmer to some inconvenience, but the 
price given is remunerative, amounting, on an average, to about 
a penny per pound, so that the value of the straw may exceed 
that of the corn. 
The moral effects of this manufacture are often called in 
question ; the early age at which the children are employed 
srxdl v hinders their education by keeping them from the village 
school ; it indisposes and unfits them for domestic service, 
though it retains them at home and hinders their being subjected 
to the drudgery of field labour. 
Vaeieties of Wheat. 
Although the vale of Ringtale, in the north of the county, 
gained a name of old for the Hertfordshire white flour, the land 
generally is better adapted to the coarser red wheats, and high farm- 
ing cannot in this respect overule the inherent quality of the soil. 
^To Mr. Hainworth, of Hitchin, great credit is due for the 
attention bestowed by him on the selection and improvement of 
wheats. He is a cultivator of Spalding, Syer's Red, Red Straw 
White, Hopetown White, Red Lammas, and other wheats ; and 
has given his own name to a variety raised by him from a 
