| Meadow Hay. | Oat Straw. | |
|---|---|---|
| Water | 14·61 | 14·00 |
| Flesh-forming constituents | 8·44 | 6·17 |
| Respiratory and fatty matters | 43·63 | 15·63 |
| Woody fibre | 27·16 | 59·96 |
| Mineral matter (ash) | 6·16 | 4·24 |
| ——— | ——— | |
| 100·00 | 100·00 |
Woody fibre is as abundant a constituent of the straw of the cereals as starch is of their seeds, and if the two substances were equally digestible, straw would be a very valuable food—superior even to the potato. At one time it was the general belief that woody fibre was incapable of contributing in the slightest degree to the nutrition of animals, but the results of recent investigations prove that it is, to a certain extent, digestible. In the summer of 1859 two German chemists, Stöckhardt and Sussdorf, made a series of experiments, with the view of ascertaining whether or not the cellulose[!--29--][29] of the food of the sheep is assimilated by that animal. The results of this inquiry are of importance, seeing that they clearly prove that even the hardest kind of cellulose—sclerogen, in fact—is capable of being assimilated by the Ruminants. The animals selected were two wethers, aged respectively five and six years. They were fed—firstly, upon hay alone; secondly, upon hay and rye-straw; thirdly upon hay and the sawdust of poplar wood, which had been exhausted with lye (to induce the sheep to eat the sawdust, it was found necessary to mix through it some rye-bran and a little salt); fourthly, hay and pine-wood sawdust, to which was added bran and salt; fifthly, spruce sawdust, bran and salt; sixthly, hay, pulp of linen rags (from the paper-maker), and bran. The experiments were carried on from July till November, excepting a short time, during which the animals were turned out on pasture-land, to recover from the injurious effects of the fifth series of experiments—produced probably by the resin of the spruce. The animals, together with their food, drink, and egesta, were weighed daily. The amount of cellulose in the food was determined, and the proportion of that substance in the egesta was also ascertained; and as there was a considerable discrepancy between the two amounts, it was evident that the difference represented the weight of the cellulose assimilated by the animals. In this way it was ascertained that from 60 to 70 per cent. of the cellulose of hay, 40 to 60 per cent. of the cellulose of straw, 45 to 50 per cent. of the cellulose of the poplar wood, 30 to 40 per cent. of the cellulose of the pine, and 80 per cent. of the cellulose of the paper pulp was digested.
In stating the results of his analyses of the straws, Professor Voelcker sets down as "digestible" that portion of the cellulose which he found to be soluble in dilute acids and alkaline solutions; but he admits that the solvents in the stomach might dissolve a larger amount. The results of the experiments of Stöckhardt and Sussdorf prove that 80 per cent. of the cellulose of paper (the altered fibre of flax) is assimilable, and it is, therefore, not unreasonable to infer that the cellulose of a more palatable substance than paper might be altogether digestible.
The facts which I have adduced clearly prove that the straws of the cereals possess a far higher nutritive power than is commonly ascribed to them; that when properly harvested they contain from 20 to 40 per cent. of undoubted nutriment; and lastly, that it is highly probable that their so-called indigestible woody fibre is to a great extent assimilable.
The composition of cellulose is nearly, if not quite, identical with that of starch, and it may therefore be assumed to be equal in nutritive power to that substance—that is, it will, if assimilated, be converted into four-tenths of its weight of fat. Now as cellulose forms from six-tenths to eight-tenths of the weight of straws, it is evident that if the whole of this substance were digestible, straws would be an exceedingly valuable fattening food. When straw in an unprepared state is consumed, there is no doubt but that a large proportion of its cellulose remains unappropriated—nay more, it is equally certain that the hard woody fibre protects, by enveloping them, the soluble and easily digestible constituents of the straw from the action of the gastric juice. I would, therefore, recommend that straw should be either cooked or fermented before being made use of; in either of these states its constituents are far more digestible than when the straw is merely cut, or even when it is in the form of chaff. An excellent mode of treating straw is to reduce it to chaff, subject it to the action of steam, and mix it with roots and oil-cake or corn. Mr. Lawrence, of Cirencester, one of the most intelligent agriculturists in England, cooks his chaff, which he largely employs, in the following manner:—"We find that, taking a score of bullocks together fattening, they consume, per head per diem, 3 bushels of chaff mixed with just half a hundred-weight of pulped roots, exclusive of cake or corn; that is to say, rather more than 2 bushels of chaff are mixed with the roots, and given at two feeds, morning and evening, and the remainder is given with the cake, &c., at the middle day feed, thus:—We use the steaming apparatus of Stanley, of Peterborough, consisting of a boiler in the centre, in which the steam is generated, and which is connected by a pipe on the left hand with a large galvanised iron receptacle for steaming food for pigs, and on the right with a large wooden tub lined with copper, in which the cake, mixed with water, is made into a thick soup. Adjoining this is a slate tank of sufficient size to contain one feed for the entire lot of bullocks feeding. Into this tank is laid chaff, about one foot deep, upon which a few ladles of soup are thrown in a boiling state; this is thoroughly mixed with the chaff with a three-grained fork, and pressed down firm; and this process is repeated until the slate tank is full, when it is covered down for an hour or two before feeding time. The soup is then found entirely absorbed by the chaff, which has become softened, and prepared for ready digestion." A cheap plan is to mix the straw with sliced roots, moisten the mass with water, and allow it to remain until a slight fermentation has set in. This process effectually softens and disintegrates, so to speak, the woody fibre, and sets free the stores of nutritious matters which it envelopes. Some farmers who hold straw in high estimation, prefer giving it just as it comes from the field; they base this practice on the belief that Ruminants require a bulky and solid food, and that their digestive powers are quite sufficient to effect the solution of all the useful constituents of the straw. It may be quite true that cattle, as asserted, can extract more nutriment out of straw than horses can, but that merely proves the greater power of their digestive organs. No doubt the food of the Ruminants should be bulky; but I am quite sure that cooked or fermented straw is sufficiently so to satisfy the desire of those animals for quantity in their food.
So far as I can learn, all the carefully conducted feeding experiments to test the value of straw which have been made, have yielded results highly favorable to that article. Mr. Blundell, in a paper on "The Use and Abuse of Straw," read before the Botley (Hampshire) Farmer's Club, states that in his experience he found straw to be more economical than its equivalent of roots or oil-cake, in the feeding of all kinds of cattle:—
I find (says Mr. Blundell) that dairy cows, in the winter months, if fed on large quantities of roots, particularly mangels and carrots, will refuse to eat straw almost entirely, and become very lean; but they will always eat a full portion of sweet, well-harvested straw, when they get a small and moderate allowance of roots, say, for an ordinary-sized cow, 15 lbs. of mangel three times per day, the roots being given whole, just in the state they come from the store heap. Again, calves and yearlings being fed with roots in the same way, will eat a large quantity of straw, and when they have been kept under cover I have had them in first-rate condition for many years past. Also, in fattening beasts, when they get a fair allowance of roots, say 65 to 70 lbs. per day, with from 3 to 4 lbs. of cake or meal in admixture, they will eat straw with great avidity, and do well upon it, and make a profit. It is, however, often the case that bullocks receive 100 lbs., or upwards, of roots per day, with a large quantity of cake or meal, often 10 or 12 lbs. per day; they will not then look at straw, and are obliged to be fed with hay. The cost price of these quantities and kinds of food stands so high that the animals do not yield a profit; for although they may make meat a little faster, yet the proportionate increase is nothing compared to the increased cost of the feeding materials used.
Mr. Blundell gives us also the tabulated results of one of his experiments, which prove that by the use of straw there is to be obtained something more than manure by the feeding of stock:—
| COST OF FEEDING AN OX PER WEEK WITH STRAW, ETC., ACCORDING TO MR. BLUNDELL. | |||
| s. | d. | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | lbs. of oil-cake per day, or 38 lbs. per week, at £10 per ton | 2 | 6 |
| 64 | lbs. of roots ditto, or 4 cwt. ditto, at 13s. 4d. ditto | 2 | 8 |
| 20 | lbs. of straw feeding, or 1¼ cwt. ditto, at 30s. ditto | 1 | 10½ |
| 20 | lbs. of straw litter, or 1¼ cwt. ditto, at 15s. ditto | 0 | 11 |
| Attendance, &c., per week | 0 | 1 | |
| ———— | |||
| 8 | 0½ | ||
| Deduct value of manure, per week | 1 | 3½ | |
| ———— | |||
| 6 | 9 | ||
| Increased value of ox per week | 10 | 0 | |
| Deduct cost of feeding | 6 | 9 | |
| ———— | |||
| 3 | 3 | ||