CHAFF

The husk or withered calyx of gra es, and more especially of the bread corns. The term is also applied to straw or hay cut into very short lengths, and used for mixing with corn, roots, or other food for horses or cattle. This kind of chaff, in greater lengths, is also used for mixing with mortar on some parts of the Continent, more particularly in Germany and Ru ia; and it is used as a substitute for hair in making plaster for rooms. Both stubble and cut hay were used by the ancient Egyp tians in making bricks. [s. 226]