THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



329 



cate as a fair day's work for a horse. If we feed a 

 liorse upon rational princijjles, and look to natural 

 laws, we shall find that the stomach of the horse is 

 comparatively small, and is adapted to consume a 

 moderate quantity of food, and often. The day 

 should, therefore, be divided into two portions, 

 with as long an enterval between as can be possibly 

 obtained consistently with a fair day's work ; and 

 I believe that, by adopting this system, horses will 

 work ten hours per day with as good condition 

 from the same value of food, as those working but 

 eight hours per day with only one yoking. . When 

 we consider that in a full week's work of 10 hours 

 per day, 12 hours extra labour, or l| day's work per 

 team are gained, it is a matter worth 

 thinking of. The next point that will suggest 

 itself, will be the amount of traction required to be 

 used so that in a day of 10 hours our horses shall 

 not be distressed or over-worked. As an example, 

 I will take the work of ploughing. Supposing the 

 draught of a plough in a certain soil, M'ith a furrow 

 slice 6ft. 9in., to be 200lbs, and two horses used, 

 we then require each horse to give off an amount 

 of force equal to lOOlbs. Now, to plough an acre 

 per day in an average-sized field, say 15 chains 

 long and this width of furrow, there would be .58^ 

 furrows 330 yards long, and calculating turnings 

 at one- fifth of the whole, will give Hi miles 

 nearlyas the distance to be travelled, which, divided 

 into nine hours' actual work(this is allowing onehour 

 to be spent in travelling to and fro, yoking, and 

 imyoking), is but a speed of 1^ miles nearly, and 

 which is certainly much below what a horse is 

 capable of performing, according to the foregoing 

 tables. I might take other examples on this point, 

 but I do not think the subject before us would be 

 much benefited by such a course. I shall now 

 proceed to show the source from which the power 

 of a horse is obtained, and which I have said before 

 lies in the food consumed. There are two modes 

 of endeavouring to effect an economy in this 

 respect — one, the lessening the quantity of food per 

 horse, and keeping a larger number of horses ; the 

 other of retaining the amount of food per horse, 

 but lessening the number of horses. I do not 

 think I shall be far wrong in stating that two 

 horses well fed will do the duty of three badly kept, 

 and at the same time I would urge the necessity of 

 getting good men to attend to and work them. I 

 need not remind you that good grooming is an es- 

 sential to good condition. During the winter 

 months horses are better to be kept in a com- 

 fortable well-ventilated stable than allowed to roam 

 in the yard at will. It is a well ascertained fact 

 that warmth is an equivalent for food. During 

 the summer months, v/hile at green food, I should 

 prefer them in comfortable yards. The quantity 

 of food necessary to maintain the full working 

 condition of a horse must very much depend upon 

 the class of soil, whether heavy or light, whether 

 level or with sleep inclines, and various other phy- 

 sical conditions too numerous to mention. I have 

 generally found (and my own occupation consists 

 of land neither very heavy nor very light) that about 

 70lbs. of corn per week are necessary. The use of 

 hay I have almost discarded in my stable ; and I 

 find that by substituting roots in its stead, a prac- 



tice largely adopted in the eastern counties, a very 

 beneficial and economical application of them is 

 the result. At the present time I allow each horse 

 about 4olbs. of grated mangolds, with chopped 

 straw, per day. The total weekly cost of food will 

 stand thus : — s. d. 



1 bushel of oats, at 24s. per quarter . . . . 3 



Half bushel beans, at 48s. ditto 3 



280lbs. mangold, say 2^^ cwt., at 10s. per ton 1 3 

 Straw ad libitum at a consuming price, say 1 



Making a total per week of . . 8 3 



This, you will perceive, is for the winter season. 

 In the summer season, one bushel of oats is well 

 added to the various alternating green food which 

 generally forms the bulk of the food of the farmer's 

 liorse. The summer food will stand then as 

 follows : — s. d. 



Oats 3 



Lucerne, trifolium, vetches, clover, &c. 5 



Making a total per week of , . . . 8 



And 8s. 1 Id. will be the average of the whole year 

 of the actual cost of food ; this will incur an annual 

 cost of £22 2s. 6d. The wear and tear of horse- 

 flesh will very materially depend upon the manner 

 of feeding ; for, if a horse be badly fed, and over- 

 worked, old age will appear to come on him pre- 

 maturely, and it is a shock the system never entirely 

 recovers. I do not think I shall understate the 

 wear and tear if I put it at 10 per cent, per annum 

 on the prime cost of each horse, and this will be 

 allowing each horse to have an average life of 10 

 years' work. If the cost of each horse be £40, 

 then we have to add £4 to the cost of food, making 

 a sum of £26 2s. 6d. as the annual expense of a 

 horse's power. To illustrate practically the power 

 we have at command, I propose to put before you 

 this proposition : — What number of horses are re- 

 quired per 100 acres to cultivate an arable farm 

 of a given quality ? I will take as an example a 

 farm of 400 acres of good stock and corn land, of 

 the general character of soil of this county, and 

 cultivated in a husbandlike manner. We will crop 

 the lands so as to have i under roots and green 

 crops, ^ under cereals, i under legumes, and i 

 seeds, commencing at Michaelmas. We shall re- 

 quire, therefore, 100 acres ploughing for wheat, 

 from the middle of August till the middle of 

 October, with a pair of horses, 20 acres of the root 

 quarter for rye, vetches, &c., with a pair, making 

 120 acres to be ploughed ; four ploughs 30 days, 

 at an average of one acre per day, which is easily 

 accomplished with the light furrows required for 

 wheat. The drilling of the same will occupy 10 

 days for four horses, while the harrowing before 

 the drill and the seed time will occupy four horses 

 the same length of time ; eight horses for 10 days, 

 or a total of 40 days' work during the wheat and 

 winter vetch season. The wheat will be all planted 

 by the end of October; we have, therefore, 40 

 days' work on this } of the farm, from the middle 

 of August till the end of October, comprising 66 

 working days ; if we allow one day per week 

 hindrance, which is far more than an average at 

 this season of the year, we have fifteen days left for 



