ROOTS. 229 
before the most idle day in it. The effect is a gentle action on the bowels 
without purgation, by which all tendency to mechanical stoppage is pre- 
vented without weakening the horse. On the evening when the mash is 
given the usual feed of corn is omitted, the hay being given in slightly 
reduced quantity, unless the bowels are very confined, when a bucketful 
of mash may be given by itself; but few horses will eat more than halt 
a bucket of bran. 
LinsEeD, like bran, is chiefly used medicinally, that is to say, to produce 
certain effects upon the body which are not required to be permanent. 
These are, first, to increase the fatty matter deposited in the flesh; and 
secondly, to soothe the air passages or the mucous membranes generally. 
For the former purpose half-a-pint or a pint of linseed is scalded and set 
to simmer by the fire till it has become a glutinous mass, when it is mixed 
up with a quart of bran, and is given every night till the desired change is 
produced. ‘To produce an effect upon the mucous membrane, the linseed 
should be boiled slowly in two quarts of water, and this should be mixed 
with a quart of bran, and given as warm as the horse will eat it. 
HEMPSEED is occasionally given to entire horses, but it cannot be con- 
sidered as a regular article of food. 
CuarrF is composed of hay and straw, or clover hay alone, or sometimes 
barley straw by itself, cut into short lengths. It is given mixed with the 
corn, the object being to induce the horse to masticate this thoroughly. In 
many large cab and omnibus stables, as well as those where horses stand 
at livery, no hay is given excepting what is cut up with straw in the 
shape of chaff. Here the object is to induce the horse to grind his corn 
well and quickly, so that his whole body, but especially his legs, will be 
refreshed in the recumbent’ position. The plan seems to answer well 
under the peculiar conditions in which such horses are placed, but there 
can be no doubt that it is unsuited to produce the highest condition of 
which the horse is capable. Moreover, it is a great object to amuse the 
animal when he is not worked very hard, and this is far better done by 
giving him some portion of the hay in his rack for him to play with, than 
by cutting all of it up into chaff. For these reasons the practice in 
private stables is to cut up about two bushels of chaff for each horse 
weekly, thus allowing about a peck a day to mix with an equal quantity 
of corn. ‘This is quite enough to induce him to grind his oats and beans, 
if he has any, without depriving him of his amusement in picking his 
hay out of his rack. I am quite aware that in large establishments 
economy is practised by cutting all the hay into chaff, but the saving per 
head is small, and is not worth attention for private horse-keepers, if it 
can be shown that it affects the health or comfort of the horse in the 
slightest degree. In London clover-hay is extensively used by itself as 
chaff, but elsewhere throughout England the practice is to cut up equal 
quantities of barley or wheat straw, with some of the hay that is provided 
for the racks. ‘These are placed in alternate layers in the chaff-cutting 
machine, and they are thus sufficiently amalgamated to prevent the horse 
from picking out the one and leaving the other. If the master has not 
obtained a machine, there are in all towns men who go about with one to 
cut the chaff once a week at a small sum per bushel. 
ROOTS. 
CaRRoTs AND Parsnirs are the only roots which are readily eaten by 
the horse, and no others seem to agree with him well. The effect of each 
