106 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



will, with the same quantity of hay, keep working horses in as 

 good condition as (and many say better, than) if fed with the 

 same quantity of oats with the hay ; or that a peck of carrots 

 and a peck of oats are equal to a half bushel of oats. The 

 Germanlown Telegraph says: — 



" Carrots possess not only fattening properties equal to oats, 

 but secure to the horse in winter fine health, loose skin, and 

 glossy coat of hair, which it is impossible to produce except by 

 the use of carrots. An acre of land which will produce seventy 

 bushels of oats, will produce five hundred bushels of carrots." 

 John Merrill, of South Lee, says he should prefer one hundred 

 bushels of carrots and one hundred bushels of oats, to two hun- 

 dred bushels of oats, for feeding to team horses. The experi- 

 ence of J. C. Curwin, of England, in the use of carrots for work 

 horses, corresponds with that of Mr. Merrill. Mr. Curwin 

 employs constantly as many as eighty horses on his farm and 

 about_his coal mines. Where he formerly used ten pounds of 

 oats per day for each horse, four pounds were taken away, and 

 five pounds of carrots substituted ; and this practice was con- 

 tinued with eighty horses for three years, with complete success ; 

 and the condition of the horses improved by the change. 

 Stewart's Stable Economy, page 176, refers to the practice of 

 Mr. Curwin. Youalt on the Horse, page 400, says, the follow- 

 ing account of the value of the carrot is not exaggerated. 

 " This root is held in much esteem. There is none better, nor 

 perhaps so good. When first given, it is diuretic and laxative ; 

 but, as the horse becomes accustomed to it, these effects cease 

 to be produced. They also improve the state of the skin." 

 Stewart says, parsnips, sugar beet, and mangold wurzel are 

 occasionally fed. The parsnip is chiefly used in France, but 

 objections are made by Stewart to its use. These objections 

 have been since overruled. The American Farm Book, page 

 179, says : Horses thrive on carrots ; and some judicious 

 farmers feed them as a substitute for oats. Their intrinsic 

 value in weight for their fat and flesh forming properties, is 

 less, in the proportion of about five to one. For their medicinal 

 properties, however, and the healthful effects resulting from 

 their regular but moderate use, they would be advantageously 

 purchased at the same price as oats, or even corn, if they could 

 be procured no cheaper. As to the quantity which may be fed 



