306 Feeds and Feeding. 



be noted that in the cases where trouble arose millet hay was used 

 exclusively for roughage. Ill effects can probably be avoided by 

 using this hay in limited quantity for roughage and not continu- 

 ously. Nothing unfavorable to the use of millet hay for cattle or 

 sheep feeding has been reported. (272) 



483. Boussingault's experiments with roots. Instigated by the 

 terrible drought of 1840, Boussingault of France studied the value 

 of roots and tubers in rations for horses on his farm at Bechel- 

 bronn. l Eight horses, separated into two groups of four each, 

 were used in the following experiments: The ordinary ration for 

 work horses at his farm, which maintained them in excellent con- 

 dition, was, per head per day, 22 pounds of hay, 5.5 pounds of 

 straw, and 7.25 pounds of oats. This ration was fed in all the 

 experiments with the changes noted. 



484. Steamed potatoes. In the first experiment half the hay 

 was replaced by lightly-steamed potatoes in the proportion of 280 

 pounds of potatoes to 100 pounds of hay, the theoretical equiva- 

 lent of potatoes in hay value. (138) The potatoes were mashed 

 and mixed with cut straw and put into the manger when cold. 

 The animals were weighed after having been on this feed a few 

 days, and again after twenty-four days. The average weight per 

 horse was: First weighing, 1,134.9 pounds; second weighing, 

 1,111 pounds; average loss per horse during twenty-four days, 23.9 

 pounds. The allowance of 30. 8 pounds of steamed potatoes could 

 not then, under the conditions, replace the 11 pounds of hay. 

 The weather was very inclement during the experiment, and the 

 teams were worked hard at ordinary fall farm work. (658) 



485. Potatoes substituted for hay. This experiment, a dupli- 

 cate of that just reported, was conducted under more favorable 

 conditions for 63 days. The horses gained 10.1 pounds each on 

 an average during this time, 30.8 pounds of potatoes proving fully 

 equal to 11 pounds of hay. Boussingault concludes that the ex- 

 periment shows that the comparative value of hay and potatoes 

 for horses is not far from 100 : 280. 



486. Hay and potatoes. Eleven pounds of hay in the usual al- 

 lowance were replaced by 30.8 pounds of potatoes, and the whole 

 of the oats and straw by 15.4 pounds of hay, making the ration 



1 llurul Economy, p. 400. 



