POTATOES FOR STOCK FEEDING. 187 



CHAPTER XXI. 



POTATOES FOR STOCK FEEDING. 



THE value of potatoes as stock food is not generally under- 

 stood any more than is the proper way to serve them. It 

 is not going too far to say that they are useful for all farm 

 animals, lest it be for sheep, and we are not sure but that, 

 prudently served, they might be very wholesome for ewes 

 in the lambing yard. Seeing the interest now evinced in 

 the cultivation of the tubers, it will be both instructive 

 and profitable to point out their value for different stock, 

 and how to serve them. 



For Horse Feeding: Potatoes exceed in value all 

 other roots, even the esteemed carrot, for horses doing 

 heavy and not too fast work. Take team horses, for in- 

 stance, or even dray or van horses. Cook the tubers and 

 serve them judiciously, so that there is not too much re- 

 laxation of the bowels as a result, and you may withhold 

 a portion of the corn. Walker Watson, M.H.C.V.S., in 

 revising Youatt's book, " The Horse," observes: " Pota- 

 toes have been given, and with advantage, in their raw 

 state, sliced with the chaff, but where it has been conve- 

 nient to boil or steam them, the benefit has been far more 

 evident. Purging has then rarely ensued. Some have 

 given boiled potatoes alone, and horses, instead of reject- 

 ing them, have soon preferred them even to the oat; but 

 it is better to mix them with the usual manger feed, in 

 the proportion of one pound of potatoes to two and a-half 

 pounds of the other ingredients. The use of the potato 

 must depend on its cheapness, and the facility for boiling 

 it. Half-a-dozen horses would soon repay the expense of 

 a steaming boiler in the saving of provender, without tak- 



