FOOD 345 



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the opportunity occurs, and as highly concentrated cut food favours rapid 

 mastication, gastric repletion is soon established with all its attendant evils. 

 On the other hand, as has been pointed out, the equine stomach is ill 

 adapted for bulky innutritions food, and horses fed on such food are 

 deficient in the condition and fitness requisite for long-continued and 

 severe exertion. It is of real importance, therefore, both in the interests 

 of efficiency and economy, to apportion accurately the weight of hay to the 

 weight of mixed grain, as well as to decide upon the most suitable grain 

 mixture. 



Practical experience teaches that hard-worked horses will do well upon 

 a mixture of two parts hay and three parts grain, and that it is not 

 advisable to reduce the quantity of hay materially below this, and is 

 uneconomical to increase it materially; but while such a mixture meets 

 the requirements of horses doing hard work, it is an unsuitable and too 

 rich a food for idle horses, for which a mixture of equal parts of chaff and 

 grain will answer much better. 



Chaff is simply cut hay, or cut hay mixed with a proportion of cut 

 straw. 



A very good and not too expensive chaff will be secured by mixing 

 together two parts meadow hay, one part rye-grass and clover, and one 

 part good oat straw. 



In forming a suitable grain mixture, it should be remembered that 

 the chief characteristic of cereals is the large percentage of carbohydrates 

 in them, and that although oats may be used alone, both they and barley 

 are improved by the addition of a few beans. While cereals are char- 

 acterized by the large proportion of carbohydrates they contain, the 

 percentage in maize is still greater; and therefore, while the addition of 

 beans is beneficial with cereals, it becomes almost essential with maize. 



As has been observed elsewhere, whenever a horse food is deficient 

 in nitrogenous elements the deficiency is most easily made good by the 

 addition of beans; and moreover beans, although so valuable in a mixture, 

 are, in consequence of their highly nitrogenous character, altogether un- 

 suited for use alone. 



By bearing these points in mind, and by the confirmation of practical 

 experience, a good and economical grain mixture can easily be made; 

 and it has been established that a suitable mixture for working horses is 

 obtained by combining two parts cereals, two parts maize, and one part 

 beans. 



Whatever plan of feeding is followed the food-stuffs used should be 

 the best of their kind. Hay and straw should be the produce of good 

 soils, and should be sweet, clean, well-harvested, and free from mould. 



