232 THE HORSE 



administering iron where watercress is abundant, as it fre- 

 quently is. Old race-goers may remember how his trainer 

 made quite a transformation in Kaleidoscope, converting 

 him into a robust, thriving animal, instead of being the 

 reverse, and so won with him the Lincolnshire Handicap, 

 and this success he largely attributed to the free and daily 

 use of watercress. 



Other minerals which help to build up the body are 

 phosphorus, needed for the bones, the brain, and the nervous 

 system generally ; and a small quantity of sulphur, than which 

 there is no more valuable drug in the whole of the pharma- 

 copoeia or one more neglected. " No doubt," once remarked 

 an eminent veterinary surgeon to me, " if sulphur was a 

 guinea an ounce, instead of being as cheap as it is, it would 

 be held in proper esteem and valued accordingly, and then 

 we should use a lot of it." Sulphur purifies the blood, and 

 is a valuable aid when the digestive process is not in 

 thorough working order, and it also soon shows its effect 

 upon the skin by the silkiness of the coat when it is used. 

 A tablespoonful, once a month or so, is good for all horses, 

 but as it has a tendency to open the pores of the skin it 

 should only be given at the evening feed. 



Green Food. 



Some form of green food, which term includes carrots 

 and other roots, should be provided for all horses habitually 

 fed on dry, stimulating food. In Great Britain much useful 

 greenstuff is thrown on the manure-heap, or otherwise 

 wasted, which in hot countries is carefully garnered and 

 made use of for the animals. Beyond vetches, and the 

 different families of clover, or a little cut grass, we do not 

 avail ourselves of what is at hand, and the outer leaves of 

 cabbages and cauliflowers, and the green tops of celery, are 

 all allowed to go to waste, though much appreciated by stall- 

 fed cattle or horses in the stable. In Spain the green tops 

 of chicory, and of celery, used to be sold in the markets at 

 3d. for a very small parcel, and were eagerly bought ; and the 

 writer has ridden many a long journey to procure young 



