250 Bureau of Farmeus' Institutes. 



What foods are best for a colt during the winter? 



Mr. Litcbard. — Good clover hay and oats. 



Dr. Smead. — Mixed bay, red clover, alsike and timothy, cut 

 when the red clover is in bloom, is best. Such hay has a nutri- 

 tive ratio of about 1 to 7. Feed the colt what it will eat in an 

 hour. No more. If more, his digestion will be impaired. For 

 the grain, half a pint of oats and a fourth of a pound of bran to 

 each 100 pounds of colt, will do. 



Please give a good ration for a horse? 



Mr. Ward. — It would depend somewhat whether the horse was 

 being worked or not. Such a horse would require a different 

 ration from one standing idle. There is no better grain food than 

 oats. If the hay fed is clover and the grain, oats and bran, a 

 little corn meal should be added, but don't feed too much timothy 

 hay, only just what will be eaten up clean in an hour. 



If you were going to feed corn and oats to a horse would you feed both 

 grains whole? 



Dr. Smead. — No, I would grind them together, because corn 

 ought not to be fed whole. But I would not feed corn and oats 

 mixed, because I find at least one horse in thirty that cannot eat 

 corn at all; if a horse can stand it, there is no better feed for a 

 horse doing heavy work than corn and oats mixed about half and 

 half. 



What is the best ration for young colts? 



Mr. Van Dreser. — I know of nothing better than wheat bran, 

 oats and clover hay; skimmed milk is also good. We fed wheat 

 bran with it and made a growth of over GO pounds in 30 days. 

 Not more than a pint of oats, three times a day, was fed. 



What is the feeding value of buckwheat straw for horses? Will they 

 eat it? 



Mr. Ward. — Horses will eat good, bright clean buckwheat 

 straw in preference to hay. It is one of the best foods for horses; 

 they will eat it readily. But it must be clean, bright and well 

 housed. I do not recall its nutritive ratio, so that I cannot tell 

 just how it compares in feeding value with other straws. 



