| Show from the plough loom and the anvil the value of straw not until quite recently have I 1 lear learned ried that straw possesses so much value as a food for cattle and horses barley straw seems to be i nearly if not quite as valuable for feeding I 1 young cattle as clover hay in fact many are of opinion that it is even of more worth than clover clove rhay hay from a recent trial in using barley straw I 1 am well convinced that it is of much I 1 real value and that farmers particularly those I 1 who raise much barley should be careful to preserve all their salaw since hay and grain i have become so high in our home and city I 1 markets to prove its value you want to tale take particular pains pain in cutting your barley at the right period of its growth this season we cut ours when many of the stems steins or stalks I 1 were in a green state the weather was fair and no rain of any amount was allowed to dampen the cocks and win rows we cut the barley low ant and in order to do this we rolled our ground thoroughly with a large roller im mediately aner after sowing this process produced a smooth surf surface itee and hence we were enabled to get all of the barley without running the risk of raking up stones aa in the win rows As soon as it became dry the barley Ws was immediately drawn into the barn and not stacked as is often the case when barn room is not plenty on threshing it we had a scaffold so arranged that the straw could be taken from the end of the separator and cast into a large bay reserved for the preservation of the fodder thus managed straw can be fed out at pleasure just as you would feed out hay to your cows and sheep I 1 never did like the operation of stacking straw when it wis was possible to put it up in bays or other suitable places most usually when it is stacked out the top of the stack becomes deeply frozen and is therefore liard hard to be got at though straw can be stacked in such a way that it will save very well yet a after all much of it inevitably wastes by reason of the constant access of the cattle to the stack the practice of economy in the feeding of a straw is just as essential as the performance of it in anything else therefore it is we well 11 to have suitable racks in your yards in which to place the straw probably cheap and simple ones would answer just as valuable a purpose as more costly structures so far this winter we have simply used a long board structure around which the cattle can assemble and commence eom mence grinding up the straw immediately on its deposition in the rack frequently the straw should be salted moderately for as almost everybody knows animals are very fond of saline matter we have not fed our young cattle on anything except barley oat and wheat straw tor for the past two or three months and I 1 cart can the readers of the plough that they look a as fine and sleek as those that have taken plentifully of hay and stalks then farmers dont burn bum up your straw on the fields from which it was taken as many have done and continue to do but on the contrary save e it all feed it out as you would your timothy hay bay and my word for it you will be more than doubly paid for your labor and trial W TiP TAPPAN PAN baldwinsville N Y feb 1853 |
