SOILING, OR HOUSE FEEDING. 181 



be no doubt ; no one rates it at less than two to one ; many say 

 that three animals, some assert with confidence that four ani 

 mals, can be well kept upon the produce of land, if soiled, where 

 not more than one could be kept if depastured. The difference, 

 undoubtedly, in this respect, is very great in favor of soiling ; 

 but its expediency upon the whole, in any given case, will be 

 affected by a variety of local circumstances. 



The soiling of work horses on a farm is always to be advised. 

 They require the most particular superintendence ; but this can 

 be given to them only when they are near at hand. They 

 should be protected against those extreme changes of tempera 

 ture from which they are likely to suffer if turned into a pasture 

 at night after a hard day s work. They require to have their 

 food prepared for and brought to them ; otherwise much of the 

 time, which should be given to sleep and repose, is necessarily 

 devoted to obtaining their food ; and a horse turned empty at 

 night into a pasture, will be likely to pass a great part of that 

 night in filling his stomach. The same remark applies also to 

 working oxen. It is highly creditable to the English farmers 

 that their work horses are attended to with the most particular 

 and faithful care, as to cleaning, littering, feeding, working, and 

 watering. I have referred already to the practice of one distin 

 guished farmer, who never allowed his horses to be trimmed, or 

 curried, or housed, against their inclination. He was of opinion, 

 that Nature, in this respect, was the best guide ; and that she 

 gave the animals their thick and matted coat, in winter, when 

 they required it, and it was, therefore, wrong to deprive them of 

 it ; and in the spring she took equal care in divesting them of 

 the covering, which then became oppressive and superfluous. 

 There may be some reason in this ; but whenever I see either 

 horses or men in this shaggy and wild-bear condition, I cannot 

 help thinking that nature may be somewhat improved upon. It 

 cannot be said of this farmer, however, that he did not give his 

 horses the opportunity of sheltering themselves if so they chose ; 

 for he had warm sheds and open stalls, most amply littered, to 

 which they might have recourse at pleasure. This latter cir 

 cumstance, of leaving them loose, was a feature in his manage 

 ment much to be commended ; for it seems a great cruelty, 

 though not an infrequent practice, to tie a hard-working horse in 

 VOL. ii. 16 



