238 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Jan., 



of the other good hays, but clover is always a good food for a 

 horse. Do not be afraid that it will give them the heaves. It 

 will not do it. I defy any man to cite one case where clover 

 hay ever gave •a horse the heaves. A horse has but a com- 

 paratively small stomach, which holds only from twelve to 

 fifteen quarts, depending somewhat upon the size of the animal. 

 Now when we put down two big forkfuls of clover hay, and 

 then feed four quarts of oats, when that horse has swallowed 

 it all the stomach is pretty nearly full. Then if we start out in 

 the morning and the horse shows some evidence of heaves do 

 not think it is the clover hay. It was not the clover hay. It 

 was not that at all that produced the symptoms, but it was our 

 injudicious method in feeding. When you feed your horse 

 never feed in a way to allow it to gorge its stomach. A horse, 

 as a rule, should have a concentrated ration. A concentrated 

 ration of hay or alfalfa, and a little good grain, depending 

 somewhat on the weather, and on the time of year. If it is 

 alfalfa hay do not feed oats. Let him have a little corn 

 because you may injure the animal by feeding an overplus of 

 nitrogenous food, and you can do it more quickly than you 

 can by feeding carbonaceous food. Now to get back to the 

 little colt. Feed it oats and not bran. If you are going to feed 

 it bran, feed it a little bran with a little linseed cake. Keep 

 that colt growing every moment of its life because we want 

 to make the best horse that we can. Now when the colt is 

 turned out in the spring, do not turn the colt out, where it 

 has been fed all winter on grain and its mother's milk, into a 

 soft pasture, because you know that grass in the spring is 

 about ninety-five per cent water, and the other five per cent, is 

 made of other elements, and there is not very much food value 

 in it. You cannot aflford to weaken or check the growth of 

 the colt. Keep up that feed of hay and grain until well into 

 the month of June when the grass gets new and fresh and 

 contains nutriment enough to keep that colt growing all the 

 time. When that colt has been well fed and well taken care of 

 by the time it is three years old the expense of production has 

 ceased. Then it is able to earn its living. With a colt of that 

 kind you know about what it should sell for, and you can make 

 a good profit. By raising horses of that kind we can stop this 

 everlasting flow of money into the pockets of western specu- 

 lators, because by following some of these simple rules that I 



