270 LIVE STOCK MANAGEMENT. 



clay, and the cobs and all other refuse thrown out behind 

 the horses and taken out with the manure. The horses 

 should be given sufficient time to rest their stomachs, and 

 this can be done by giving the first feed at 5 o'clock in the 

 morning and the last between 6 and 7 at night. Horses 

 fed as described above usually make good gains. In some 

 instances horses fed in this manner have made a gain of 

 five and one-half pounds a day for a period of fifty to one 

 hundred days. One horse gained 550 pounds in 100 days. 

 In many instances from one dozen to twenty horses have 

 made an average daily gain of three and one-third pounds 

 per day for a period of ninety days. 



One of the largest horse feeding establishments in the 

 state of Illinois, a firm which has fed hundreds of horses 

 annually, feed much along the same line as outlined above. 

 They made a business of buying in horses in the half-fed 

 condition from farmers and feeding them from one to three 

 months in preparation for the market. The length of the 

 feeding period would depend upon the condition of the 

 animal when purchased and the prospective outcome of the 

 same. Large framed, coarse boned animals were always fed 

 much longer than the fine, pony built horses. The former 

 class would make heavier gains and required more flesh to 

 give them finish and to make them attractive to the eye 

 of the purchaser. 



Many people have doubted the wisdom of forcing the 

 horses in this way. They claim that the animals will not 

 wear as long after being subjected to such fattening pro- 

 cesses. This may be so, and no doubt it is in no small 

 degree. Still, we must cater to the demands of the market. 

 We must give our purchasers what they want. In draft 

 horses they demand fat, thus if we hope to get the highest 

 value for our animals we must sell them in high flesh. 



