252 Next to the Ground 



grain fed in England to horses, in Scotland to 

 men." The thrust was well countered by 

 an indignant Scot : " An' whar will ye find 

 sic horses an' sic men ? " Beyond ques- 

 tion, if horses needs must decline and fall to 

 grain, oats should be the grain. Shelled oats 

 and stemmed fodder that is to say, dry corn 

 blades with the midrib removed made up 

 the feed of the famous four-mile racing stars 

 of the early American turf. Corn is both 

 heating and stiffening, to say nothing of pro- 

 ducing " big-head," unless fed with the nicest 

 judgment, particularly in animals not fully 

 developed. Enthusiasts firm in the faith of 

 blue grass and blue blood, indeed regard corn 

 as little less than poison. They keep sepa- 

 rate summer and winter pastures for brood 

 stock. The winter pastures lie untouched 

 until October, and the grass in them cures to 

 the finest natural hay. Still the cured grass 

 is not the dependence through the winter. 

 Beneath the matted blanket of it, young 

 grass pushes up fresh and vigorous. It is 

 nothing for the brood mares or the young 

 things in their separate pastures, to paw aside 

 the brown overlay, nibbling the choicest bits 

 of it, and crop the rich sweet blue-green 

 blades below. 



Blue grass in full bloom, growing upon 

 the richest land, comes well above the knee. 



