FOOD 503 



barley grown in abundance of sunlight), being given up by 

 British farmers, whose prospects as bread-producers are not 

 too bright. 



Dry bran prevents a horse bolting his food too quickly. 

 Though beans when given in large quantities tend to pro- 

 duce costiveness, a small amount added to a food mixture 

 has the opposite tendency. A little fenugreek meal or flour 

 acts as a relish or spice, and is a valuable adjunct. 



Indian pulses are now more or less used as ingredients 

 in the mixed purchased foods of the various farm animals. 

 It is not safe to include them, as the late Principal Wm. 

 Williams of Edinburgh and Principal M'Call of Glasgow 

 traced a disease to the use of some of them in the food of 

 horses. 1 The seeds of Lathyrus sativus, imported from India 

 and Egypt, is especially poisonous to them. They have 

 difficulty in breathing, and fall down as if in a fit if forced 

 to exert themselves, and death is sudden. There is no 

 known cure (p. 327). 2 



As the horse has a small stomach, it should be fed at least 

 three times a day morning, noon, and night. To prevent 

 costiveness, cold bran mashes are better than boiled food, 

 the latter being apt to cause colic (page 509), although it 

 produces a glossy skin. In addition to restricting the 

 amount of rich food given on Sundays while horses are at 

 rest, saltpetre (2 to 4 drams) is at times added to the 

 usual bran mash on Saturday night, to prevent stocking or 

 " Monday-morning-evil " (page 511), in hard -worked and 

 highly-fed horses. The concentrated food provided during 

 the slack season, whatever be the length of the period, may 

 be averaged at one bushel of oats per week. 



Fodder. A large horse at full work will consume, in 

 addition to short food, 18 to 24 Ibs. per day of "seeds," hay, 

 or strong-boned lea hay. If fodder be chaffed, a few Ibs. less 

 will suffice. In Midland and Southern England natural or 

 meadow hay is preferred for hunting and carriage horses, 

 whereas in Scotland, pure ryegrass hay of luxuriant growth is 



1 Described in the Veterinary Journal for 1885 and 1886 under the 

 title of " Lathyrus Poisoning." 



2 See a paper on "Leguminous Plant Poisoning," by Dr R. S. 

 M'Dougall, in the Journal of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh for 

 December 1894. 



