108 



THE AGKIGULTUEAL NEWS. 



Ji-Lv 10, 1902. 



Molasses as a Food for Army Horses. 



Attfntimi has already bcfii diivctcd in this 

 Journal to the value of molasses as a food for horses 

 and cattle (])]). 22 and GO.). The fijllowing iniixirtant 

 pajier by ^Ir. E. F. Griffin, Veterinary Artillery Corps, 

 Fort .Sheridan, Illinois, U.S.A., apjieaivd, inider the 

 above title, in the Lan IkIc na. Fbintcr tor April 2(i, 

 last. This account is well worth the care4'ul attention 

 of all owners of horses and cattle in the West Indies : — 



\\'liile serving with tlie Fifth cavalry in Porto Rico, 

 1899 to 1901, it was observed that the natives n.sed consid- 

 erable molasses in the feeding of their ponies. On inqniring 

 into the reasons we were informed that the corn of the 

 country was .«mall, hard, scarce and e.\pensi\e ; oats had to be 

 imported ; hay was an unknown quantity, it being practically 

 inqiossible to cure grass in a country where the rainfall was 

 so great and fre(pient ; besides, as vegetation flourishes the 

 year through, grass in large quantities was always obtain- 

 able, although of a coarse variety and containing S.j per cent, 

 of water. 



USE BV N.^TIVES IN PORTO RU.:0 



Grass as fed, is cut early in the morning, made into 

 bundles from 10 to 15 11>., transported on oxcarts to the 

 neighbouring town.s, and there retailed for a small sum 

 tt) the horse owners. An unlimited sujiply of this grass is 

 allowed to the horse, it, however, lieing cut or chopjied into 

 short lengths first. In addition to tliis, whete molasses is 

 olitaiiuible (and it is very jilentiful in this sugar-raising 

 country), and clieaji enough, it is added to the drinking- 

 water and the animal is allowed to partake of it in large 

 quantities. All of the ponies do good work on this 

 ration and endure surprisingly the hard usage and lirutal 

 abuse to which they are subject by the native Porto Kican 

 and the Spaniard, who are seemingly devoid of mercy where 

 horse flesh is concerned. The (piestion suggests itself, — why 

 not feed army animals in this manner ? 



Through the kindness of Colonel Clem, chief (juarter- 

 master of the then Deiiartment of Porto liico, a money allow- 

 ance of •'*S0 was placed at oiu' dis[iosal for the purchase of 

 molasses for the purposes of experiment. 



KK^HT HORSES EXPERIMENTED ON. 



Six troc>|i horses and two private horses were selected 

 for the feeding exiieriment, which was inaugurated .lanuary 

 1, 1899, and continued until .May 31 of the same year. In 

 carrying out the experiment I was ably assisted by a detail 

 of enlisted men, in charge of Farrier Pagoda, of Troop L., 

 Fifth cavalry. 



( )n the a[>pointed day the eight horses were weighed, 

 pulse, tenqierature, respirations, secretions, etc., noted and 

 recorded ; also the condition of the teeth and general health, 

 all of which were normal ; selection of horses was made 

 without discrimination except that of the two private horses, 

 one of which I.elonged to the adjutant iif the regiment, the 

 other to onrselve.s. 



RATIONS. 



Commencing with the moining feed on .buuiary 1. tlir 

 oats ration was gradually ilecreased and grass substituted, at 

 the rate of .Sib. of grass for one of oats. Commencing on 

 the -1th, the hay ration was gradually diminished and its 

 place su|)plied with grass at the rate of I'lb. of gra.ss for 

 one of hay. On the Oth, in addition to the grass, now 

 amounting tn -111), a day (chopped), there \^a^ added, mixed 

 tlierewitli, .'illi. of mola.sses. The hay and oats were partaken 

 of eagerly, also the fresh gra.ss, but that nuxed with the 

 moliisses was absoutcly refused, exce|)t by horse Xo. i, 

 which was very fond of candy or sugar. He, however. 



ajipeared to have trouble in its ma.stication, when it struck 

 us that the inola.s.ses was not sufticiently diluted. At the 

 next feed 25 [ler cent, of water was added to the molasse.s, 

 when live of the animals connnenced to eat it gingerly. By 

 the 10th. of the month all of the hor.ses were eating .'55111. 

 of grass and lllb. of molasses daily without the addition 

 of any othei' feed whatsoever. 



TEMP0E.\RY LOSS IX WEIOHT. 



From the 7th. to the 18tli. each horse lost in weight 

 from 251b. in the ca.se of No. 2 to ;52lb. hi the ca.se of No. 5. 

 Contrary to expectations, there was no relaxation of the 

 bowels noticed : in fact, at a late period bran had to be 

 given to overcome a partially constipated condition in all of 

 the subjects ; urine was clear anil secreted in greater quantity 

 than usual, but on test for sugar no reaction could be 

 observed. 



During this time each animal was doing the irsual 

 routine work of the garrison — drills, parades, .scouts, hor.se 

 exercise and patrols, amoiuiting in all to alxiut five or six 

 miles a day. 



On the moriung of the 17th. it was decided to give the 

 animals a regular amount of work, consisting of twelve miles 

 a day each, with saddle packed with soldier's field kit, or 

 its equivalent, which' with the man, averaged 20."? lb. 



Animals were watered at 6 a.m., fed 151b. of gra.ss and 

 711>. of molasses inunediately afterwards : at 7:30 a.m. they 

 were all .saddled, and the detachment, under our direction 

 (riding No. 2), proceeded thus : One mile walk, one mile 

 regulation trot, one mile walk, one mile slow gallop, two 

 mile walk, one mile fast gallop, one mile trot, two mile walk, 

 lieturning to the .stalile not earlier than 9:30 a.m., un.saddleil, 

 placed horses on picket line ; water was offered at all the 

 numerous streams crossing the line of march while en route, 

 but was refused except on rare occasions, and then partaken 

 of oidy by the oldest animal in the detachment. No. G, fifteen 

 years old ; water was offered at nnon, Imt little partaken 

 of ; at 4:30 p.m. 201b. of grass and 711i. of mola-sses were 

 again fed, salt was offered twice a week, and alH>ut three 

 ounces partaken of for the week ; the molasses was diluted 

 with 25 per cent, of water and mixed with the chopjied gra.ss 

 as far as possilile : where all could not be mixed it was 

 dissolved in water and ottered as a drink, which was 

 partaken of during the night out of the bucket left in each 

 manger. 



THE HOUSES IXrliEASI-: IN WElOIPr. 



Commencing with January 20, all the horses commenced 

 to pick u|>, and liy February 5, all of them had arrived at 

 their original weight, and in .some case.s, notably No. 2, had 

 surpa.ssed it, with the excei>tion of No. fi, the old horse, 

 which regaineil his weight slowly, lly the I'lid of February 

 all the horses had increased in weight over the original 

 from 35 to 68 Iti.. the former in the case of \o. G, 

 the latter No 2. This increa.se was maintained or varied 

 from very little tlnonghout the experiment, exce])! in the 

 case of No. C, the old hor-^e, which .slowly put on 52lt). 

 over the original. The work was continued daily, rain 

 or >liiiie, Sundays exce]ited, and in addition to this we 

 were glad to let the horses out to garrison riding l>arties 

 for drills and ]iara(les so hmg as it did iu>t inter- 

 fere with the regular work, with the understanding, however, 

 that no food shouhl be offered while ab.sent from the 

 stable. In addition to this all the hor.ses were given a 

 swim in the sea every Sunday afternoon for aliont half an 

 hour with the object in view of washing off' any mola.s,ses 

 sticking to the coat. Grooming was only indulged in once a 

 d.iy, and that .ibnut 1 in the evening. 

 (To he continued.) 



