228 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



riiELIMINAKY RP:P0KT on wintering farm work IIORt^E^. 



BY H. W. NORTON, JR. 



Bulletin No. 254. 



FOREWORD. 



The econoiiiic wintering of the farm work horse has become an 

 important jiroblem. Oats and timoth}' hay are expensive feeds for 

 the idle work horse. On the other hand horses wintered over in the 

 barnyard on straw and cornstalks only, ai'e not in condition to endure 

 the severe farm labor upon the sudden opening up of work in the 

 spring. This bulletin suggests the use of a variety of cheap substitute 

 feeds. The large variety hereinafter given need not all be used, though 

 the possibilities of their use are demonstrated. The publication may 

 seem untimely, appearing at the close of winter, but it bears sugges- 

 tions of preparation for the coming season. Do not neglect to produce 

 and properly store some corn fodder, oat straw, mixed hay, roots, etc., 

 for the horses during next winter. (By corn fodder is meant corn 

 grown in drills thick enough to produce moderate sized stalks, an 

 abundance of leaves, and from 1-2 to 2-3 of a crop of ear corn, the 

 whole to be fed to the horse in bundle form. A small part of the corn 

 field might be planted in this way.) 



