FARM ANIMALS 59 



amount of water also varies considerably on ac- 

 count of the difference in individual horses with- 

 out relation to other factors. In a direct test re- 

 garding the influence of the time of watering upon 

 the weight of the horse it was found that horses 

 watered before they were fed grain maintained 

 their weight better than when watered after the 

 grain ration. The appetite also appeared to be better 

 when the water was given before the grain although 

 the digestion was not influenced by the time of 

 watering. In general it appears to be desirable to 

 water horses both before and after feeding pro- 

 viding the interval is one half an hour or more. 



THE COST OF HORSE RATIONS 



The cost of keeping horses naturally varies ac- 

 cording to the character of the ration fed and the 

 market price of the materials used. It has been 

 found by a series of tests in New Hampshire that 

 horses at work may be kept on a liberal ration of 

 hay, bran, corn, gluten meal, linseed meal, cotton 

 seed meal and other grains at a daily cost of from 

 17 to 22 cents. As a rule oats are an expensive 

 grain ration and therefore raise the cost of the feed 

 when fed too exclusively. In most localities it is 

 a simple matter to substitute a grain mixture for a 

 part of the oats in the ration with a considerable 

 saving in the cost. When suitable substitutions 

 were made it was found that the average total cost 

 of feeding stuffs for horses at work in New Hamp- 

 shire was $74 per year. According to the experience 

 of some of the Canadian feeders the cost of feeding 

 and caring for a horse at work is 37c. per day. In 

 Ohio work horses were fed at a cost of $84 per 

 year, the daily grain ration consisting of 7-| pounds 



