UHlimtion of Straw as Food for StocJi. 
G93 
the quantities of richer substances requisite to be added to bring 
fermented and improved straw up to the standard of hay. His 
table was as follows : — 
— 
Meadow hay 
Straw chaff aftei- 
fermentatiou 
Wheat straw 
chaff 
Moisture .... 
14-61 
7-76 
13-33 
Oil and fatty matter . 
2-66 
1-60 
1-74 
Albuminous compounds 
8-44 
4-19 
2-93 
Sugar, gum, &c. . 
41-07 
10-16 
4-26 
Digestible fibre . 
— 
.36-74 
19-40 
Indigestible woody fibre . 
27-16 
34-64 
54-13 
Mineral matter . 
6-16 
6-01 
4-21 
Total 
100-00 
10000 
100-00 
Moreover, Dr. Voelcker acknowledged that Mr. Jonas’s 
system of preparing chaff had another highly valuable feature, 
as he found the chaff which had been fermented possessed “ an 
extremely delicate flavour ” and “ all the agreeable smell which 
characterises good green meadow hay, and a hot infusion with 
water produced a liquid which could hardly be distinguished 
from hay-tea.” 
Of course, practical farmers are well aware that the fermen- 
tation of straw chaff by other modes besides the one resorted to 
by Mr. Jonas, in the steaming and partial cooking of it, invari- 
ably brings out this grateful aroma, delicate flavour, and nice, 
palatable condition, in addition to rendering the substance 
more digestible, the only objection they have ever entertained 
against resorting to the process having been the cost. This, of 
course, is calculated to be much greater in certain circumstances 
than in others. The chaffing can be accomplished much more 
cheaply, as a rule, at the homesteads of large farms having steam- 
driven machinery than at small fai’ms where the chaff-cutting 
has to be done by hand. Still, after a deficient hay harvest like 
that of 1892, or whenever the haystacks are small in proportion 
to the number of stock requiring to be fed, it must always be 
a matter of strict economy to fall back as a resource on chopped 
straw, even on the part of those unaccustomed to resort much to 
the chaff-cutter in ordinary seasons. 
The late Mr. Charles Randell regarded hay as “ the most 
expensive food, looking at its selling value, that a farmer can 
give to his cattle.” On the other hand, Mr. Horsfall declared 
in the Journal (Vol. XVIII., 1st series, 1857, page 171) that 
he could buy straw for his dairy cows at a cheaper rate than any 
other food substance. He remarked : — 
