FOOD AND WATER 2235 
were kept on salted hay, without ever tasting corn at home ; but though 
they looked fat enough, and were certainly full of life, they were unable 
to do fast work, and indeed they were only used for short distances at 
any time. If a proper allowance of corn is made, from ten to fourteen 
pounds of hay per day will be ample, the quantity varying with the constitu- 
vion of each horse and with his allowance of corn. Sometimes clover hay is 
cut into chaff in addition to the meadow hay, which is put in the racks, 
and then an allowance should be made, as there is more nourishment in 
ihe clover than in the ordinary grasses. In well-managed stables, each 
horse of average size will consume from two tons to two tons and a half 
of hay in the course of the year, and this will cost on the average from 
102. to 137. 
Horse corn consists of oats and beans, to which may be added peas 
and Indian corn, the last kind of food having recently been used to some 
extent in farm stables, in imitation of the Americans. Barley and wheat 
have occasionally been tried, especially the former when malted; but 
they have not been found to possess any advantage, and, on the contrary, 
they have generally disagreed with the stomach to a very appreciable 
extent. Wheat bran is in very general use, and also linseed. 
Oats contain a large amount of nutriment as compared with hay, but 
they have a thick husk, which is sometimes so considerable in proportion 
to the mealy kernel that a bushel may not weigh more than thirty 
pounds. Oats should not weigh less than thirty-nine pounds per imperial 
bushel, but, of they are sweet, I prefer, for ordinary work, laying out the 
money which is considered sufficient for the purpose in a moderately 
light oat, rather than in a heavy one, which latter always bears a very high 
price. Thus, selecting two samples, equally sweet and of the same age, 
one of which weighs forty-three pounds per bushel and the other thirty- 
eight pounds, it will be found that the heavy oats will fetch about one- 
third more money than the lighter sample, though the additional weight, 
is barely one-eighth. This arises from the scarcity of the best oats, which 
are eagerly sought after by the trainers of racehorses, and by hunting- 
grooms, as well as by all those who cater for their stables regardless of 
expense. It is found by experience that horses will only consume a 
certain bulk of oats ; and as the quantity of this kind of food which is 
eaten is generally considered to be the measure of condition, grooms and 
trainers come to the conclusion that if they can get their horses to take 
three bushels of heavy oats during the week instead of the same bullc of 
lighter ones, they will have benefited to the extent of the difference in 
weight between the one sample and the other. As far as those horses are 
concerned which are allowed as much corn as they will eat, this calcula- 
tion is perfectly correct, and hence the high price of heavy oats is perfectly 
in accordance with reason and experience ; but the same argument for 
their adoption with hacks and harness-horses does not hold good. Very 
few of these latter animals are allowed an unlimited quantity of oats, 
which indeed would do them absolute harm, as the work they do seldom 
demands it. Omnibus and cab horses are worked to the utmost extent of 
which their powers are capable, and on them a heavy oat or good sound 
bean will always be well bestowed ; but hacks and private-carriage horses 
are not so worn down by muscular exertion, and, if they were fed like the 
cab and omnibus horse, they would soon become diseased, and in the 
meantime would often be quite unmanageable. Hence, supposing each of 
these private horses is allowed three quarterns of heavy oats per day, 1 
contend it will do him more good to give him a peck of light ones, 
