The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1874-07-09
Value Of Straw to the Farmer.

How TO get rid of the straw seems to
be matter of more Importance to a
large majority of farmers than how to
preserve it or make it of value to them.
To dispose of it in the easiest manner
possible, multitudes of farmers set fire
to their straw and burn it up immediate
ly after the grain is separated from it.
1t is common to think that straw is totally
worthless so far as stock food is con-
cerned, and of but little value for any
other purpose. Before pronouncing it
worthless, if they would give it fair
test we are of opinion that quite diff
ferent idea would be had
Instead of burning it all in pile just
as it was hauled from the thresher, if it
was scattered over the field where it
grew, or some other piece of ground, and
then burned and the ashes Immediately
plowed under, it would do good; but
burning it all in heap is a total loss,
and thing no farmer can afford to do.
In country so extensive as ours,
where stock-raising is carried ON to so
great an extent, it is a thing of the great
est Importance to know how to raise it
with as little expense as possible, as the
less it costs the farmer to raise his stock
up to the period that it is of proper age
to be sent to market, the greater will be
his profits and the more successful will
be his occupation.
For cattle and sheep, straw of any
kind, if it is bright and in good order, is
splendid food for them when properly
prepared, and horses will also eat it and
look quite as well as they do when fed
on hay But in addition to hay, or cut
straw mixed with bran or meal, horses
that are used steadily for work should be
fed plenty of shelled oats or corn, as
they cannot stand hard usage without
such grain. We do not pretend
to say, either, that straw alone should
be fed to cattle or sheep, as there is too
much bulk and not enough of strength
in it to insure the greatest satisfaction;
but along with it should be fed small
quantity of wheat bran and middlings
mixed, or corn Matchmaking what is
Familiarity known as chop" Without
so preparing it, it is doubtful about them
eating enough of it, if nothing else is fed
in connection, to keep in as good condi
ton as is desirable.
If a farmer has plenty Of room in his
barn, he should store his crop of straw
| therein as soon as he threshes his grain,
and then with good straw-cutter, run,
by horse power, the work of manufac-
turing it into number one feed is easily
accomplished, and this can be done in
| stormy weather or when it is too I'M
pleasant to work out of doors. Straw
prepared and fed in comfortable stables
will be found fully as valuable for stock
as hay of good quality, and will take Cat,
tie, sheep and colts through a long, cold
winter without necessarily using any
other kind of food, and bring them out
in the spring in good condition. BY
making good crop of straw of value as
food for stock, and feeding the hay, fod
der, ETC., of the farms as is usual, double
tho amount of stock can be kept through
the winter that is kept when it is not
used, and at very little increase Of cost
Straw is of good value to farmer even
if it is not wanted for stock-food, when
used as manure and for bedding down
animals. The most difficult thing con
nected with housing farm animals to
feed them through the winter season is
to keep the stable floors in a nice, clear
condition, and as this is positively
necessary, there is nothing so good as q
litter for the stables as tinely-cut straw
1t is splendid absorbent and makes a
bedding for stock to lie down on quite
superior in our estimation to any othel
material in use, while its value a.
an addition to the manure is mucf
superior to sawdust, tanbark, and sucl
articles. 1t should be cut quite short fol
this purpose, and large quantity can b.
prepared at time and be piled up il
the barn, where it will be convenient fol
use as it is needed. Enough should bt
thrown in the stalls every morning tt
keep them dry, and at the end of every
week they should be thoroughly cleaned
out, throwing their Accommodations into the
manure cellar, or, if there is no manure
cellar, it should be thrown in hear
under cover, and occasionally have {
quantity of water thrown over it te
hasten decomposition. If piled up out
in the weather it is liable to receive tot
much water and the strength soak out
and wash away. Unless the straw is Gu,
short, it is not advisable to use it as al
absorbent or stable litter, as it cannot bt
conveniently removed from the stalls OF
account of it clinging together and form
ing solid sheet of manure When the
straw is finely cut, it is easily removed
from the stables and is always easily
handled afterward. Taken altogether
straw is highly valuable to the farmer
and instead of letting it rot all in pile
as is often the case, or burning it and
making it total loss, it would be much
better to use it as stock food by preparing
it as above described, or to employ it al
a material for littering stables, and fol
such other purposes as may be deemed
profitable Farmer.