BEDDING 271 



Sometimes cut straw, steamed potatoes, and the meal of oats and beans 

 are given, as being the most economical kind of food. The horses are fed 

 three times a day, each time receiving 1 5 lbs. of food, thus — 



In the morning at 6 o'clock, 4 lbs. of oat and bean meal, 11 lbs. of cliafT. 



At noon, 3 lbs. of oat ami b3an meal, 12 lbs. of clialf. 



At night, 2 lbs. of oat and beau meal, 2 lbs. of chaff, and 11 lbs. of steamed potatoes. 



In some few favoured districts, the pasture is so good that horses can do 

 all but exceptionally hard work on nothing but grass in the summer and hay 

 in the winter. 



In Scotland these horses are kept out-of-doors, or soiled in-doors till 

 October, -v^hen they are put upon hard food, receiving 1 cwt. of hay and a 

 bushel and a half of corn weekly till December, when the hay is replaced by 

 straw, and the oats are reduced one-half. In February 1| cwt. of hay, and 

 a bushel and a half of oats are again given, and this is continued till June, 

 when they are fed on grass with a small allowance of corn. 



BEDDING 



The bed is generally composed of wheat straw, of which that tlirashed by 

 hand is b}' far the most durable, lasting nearly twice as long if properly kept 

 clean as the same quality thrashed by machine. Oat straw is eaten by most 

 horses almost as readily as hay, and, therefore, it is kept as fodder for farm 

 horses and cattle. It is excellent for cutting into chaff, especially when 

 there is much clover grown with it. Besides wheat straw, moss litter, saw- 

 dust, sand, tan, bracken, forest leaves, and bean straw are used either where 

 economy is studied, or for some particular reason. I shall, therefoi-e, have 

 something to say about each of these materials. 



Wheat Straw is by far the most general material for the horse's bed, and 

 in private stables it may be considered as the only one used. The cost is 

 continually upward, since more and more land is laid down to grass, and the 

 area of wheat grown is less and less in this country, while its bulkiness is a 

 serious drawback to importation. 



It is, however, shipjjed to this country, being pressed into bales, but every 

 individual straw being broken it is very little cheaper than the home-grown 

 article if used with a reasonable regard for economy. It should be selected 

 for its length, and the size and stoutness of its stalks, taking care that it is 

 quite dry, but not so much so as to be brittle. It is tied up in trusses, or 

 " boltings,"' as they are called in the Midland districts, which weigh about 

 36 lbs. each. One and a half to two of these ought to serve for a 

 week, after the bed is once made, which will require from two to three 

 trusses, according to the size of the stall or loose box. Unless the straw is 

 properly shaken up and smoothly laid, the horse is not made comfortable, 

 but lies with uneven lumps under him, which he cannot scratch into shape, 

 like a dog. Hence, the good groom takes great trouble with his horses' beds, 

 and having first laid the old litter smoothly all over the stall, as far the back 

 drain, he spreads on the surface with his fork either the cleanest part of the 

 former night's bed, or a fresh truss, according to circumstances. 



The straw should be raised against the travis or wall on each side, so that 

 the horse in lying down has his back protected by it, the sharp spinous pro- 



