Jasper Republican, Volume 1, Number 36, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 21 May 1875 — Comparative Value sis Straw for Stock. [ARTICLE]

Comparative Value sis Straw for Stock.

The value of straw as fodder for domestic animals will always depqnd on the condition in which* thq crop'was secured Chemists tell us that in the straw of cereal graih; when kernels have arrived at maturity, there is more or less much laginqus and saccharine matter. When the grain is in the milk-state the quantity of such material is much greater: -than it is after the period of’ perfect maturity. Sir H. Davy says: “When we allow wheat to stand uncut till the grain, is fully rsh, a portiqji: of the sugar in the sap is cjyiverted into mucilage and lost in thfe atmosphere.” Intelligent farmers understand that, when straw of any kind of grain or gtass is exposed to the alternate influences of rain, dew sunshine and drying wind, all the mucilaginous and saccharine material dissolved and washed out in a few days. But if the straw of wheat be harvested while the leaves are sdtoewjiat £reen, and be protected from the influences of the elements just alluded to by the pse of hayfpaps to cover the shocks of grain in stormy weather, the straw will f urnish a large quantity of excellent fodder for sheep or other animals. The color is always, a reliable indication of the relative amount of nutritive matter present or wanting in any kind of straw or hay. Some agricultural chemists have Tecord l ed analyses of the nutritive valae of wheat straw, feiptiiig it in sdhie instance* almost eqital..to a poor quality qf ,hay. But it is eyident to, every practiqair farmer that equal quantities of they same kind ;of straw possess widely different quantities of nutriment when the swinpfe6 were not cured alike. The leave* of grass and clover, when cured,properly, retain all their nutritive properties; but ■when allowed *to dry in the wind and sunshine, and to be wet a few times, they will make but little better fodder than,, the dry and weather-beaten leaves ot forest trees which rustle on the ground in autumn. The same is true of : wheat straw. If cut green and well cared it l will make good fodder; otherwise domestic anhaals ifilght as well be fed on pine shavings.—ls. Y. jTqmld.

—On Saturday night two men got into a wordy controversy, which waxed quite hot, and finally one of them challenged the other to a square fight. The challenged party filibustered around and endeavored to avoid committing himself op this issue, but finally, pressed by the other, he positively refused to * fight. “ Not that I’m any coward,” he said, 1 "or that I’m afraid of you, but I tfas tillers an unlucky man in a fight.”— Detroit Free Pres*. ' /"'■ 1 -■ ' The other day the* Postmaster, \ pn entering his office,, had his olfactory nerves disagreeably asSailed. On questioning a boy in the office as to the cause the fayouth replied: “1/ don’t know, sir, but perhaps the smell comes from some of the dead letters."— Detroit Press. • hi.ja I* l '*- ■; 1 -. 'v< ’■ Kissdhj-matches are suggested as successors of the spelling-rqatches. The girl who §sp stand it the longest wins the prize,