608 



THE MODERN SYSTEM 



GRAINS. 



Grains fresh from the mash-tub, either 

 alone, or mixed with oats or chaff, or both, 

 may be occasionally given to Horses of slovv 

 work ; they would, however, afford very in- 

 suiJicieiit nourishment for Horses of quicker or 

 harder wor';. 



WHEAT. 



Wheat is in Great Britain more rarely given 

 than barley. It contains nine hundred and 

 fiifty-five parts of nutritive matter. When 

 farmers have a damaged or unmarketable 

 sample of wheat, they sometimes give it to 

 their Horses, and, being at first used in small 

 quantities, the Horse becomes accustomed to 

 it, and thrives and works well. It must, 

 however, always be bruised and given in chaff. 

 Wheat contains a greater proportion o^ gluten 

 or sickly adhesive matter, than any other kind 

 of grain ; it is difficult of digestion, and apt to 

 cake and form obstructions in the bowels. 

 This will oftener be the case if the Horse is 

 suffered to drink much water soon after feed- 

 ing upon wheat; for the water passing rapidly 

 through the stomach and small intestines, in 

 its way to the coecum, carries off with it all 

 the starch, which is the most nourishing, and 

 leaves this sticky mass behind, which accu- 

 mulates and hardens, and obstructs the intes- 

 tines, and often destroys the Horse. A Horse 

 that is fed on wheat should have very little 

 hay. The proportion should not be more than 

 one truss of hay to two of straw. Wheaten 

 flour, boiled in water to the thickness of starch, 

 is given with good effect in over purging, and 

 especially if combined with chalk and opium. 

 There is no grain that seems to agree so well 

 with the constitution of the Horse as the oat. 



BEANa. 



Beans. — These form a striking illustration of 

 the principle, that the nourishing or strengthen- 

 ing effects of the different articles of food de- 

 pend more upon some peculiar property which 

 they have, or some combination which they 

 form, than on the actual quantity of nutritive 

 matter, yet they add materially to the vigour 

 of the Horse. There are many Horses that 

 will not stand hard work without beans beinyr 

 mingled with their food, and these not Horses 

 whose tendency to purge it may be necessary 

 to restrain by the astringency of the bean. 

 There is no traveller who is not aware of the 

 difference in the spirit and continuance of his 

 Horse if he allows or denies him beans on his 

 journey. They afford not merely a temporary 

 stimulus, but they may be daily used without 

 losing their povver, or producing exhaustion. 

 Two pounds of beans may, with advantage, 

 be mixed with the chaff of the agricultural 

 Horse, during the winter. In summer, the 

 quantity may be lessened, or the beans alto- 

 gether discontinued. Beans are generally 

 given whole. This is very absurd ; for the 

 young Horse, whose teeth are strong, seldom 

 requires them ; while the old Horse, to whom 

 they are in a manner necessary, is scarcely 

 able to masticate them, swallows many of 

 them whole, which he is unable to break, and 

 drops much corn from his mouth in the in- 

 effectual attempt to break them. Beans should 

 not be merely split, but crushed ; they will 

 even then give sufficient employment to the 

 grinders of the animal. Some postmasters use 

 chaff with beans instead of oats. With hardly 

 worked Horses they may possibly be allowed ; 

 but in general cases, the beans, without oats, 

 would be too binding and stimulating, and 



