328 NAVIN ox THE HOESE. 



Potatoes. — Potatoes contain 230 parts of nutritive matter to 

 the 1000. They are given rtlw and sliced, in cut feed, but they 

 are best boiled or steamed. Many horses will thrive and 

 work well on boiled potatoes. It is best to give them in mixed 

 feed. 



Carrots. — This root is regarded as promoting the strength 

 and endurance of the horse in a high degree. It is much es- 

 teemed as a feed for sick and convalescent horses. In health, 

 carrots may be given sliced in cut feed. Half a bushel a day 

 is sufficient, if other strong feed is not given. Boiled carrots 

 are given to sick horses. Carrots are much used in feeding 

 racing and other sporting horses. They greatly improve the 

 horse's wind. More attention should be given to their culti- 

 vation. 



Ilaij. — Timothy is by far the most 'extensively used as hay. 

 It contains all the properties necessary in hay, and is easily 

 cured and put up. It is one of the most important agricul 

 tural products of this country. It should be cured without any 

 rain falling on it after it is cut. It contains near 100 parts of 

 nutritive matter to the 1000. It is not so much on the pro- 

 portion of nutritive matter it contains, as on its peculiar adapt- 

 ation to the horse's digestive system, that its value dej^ends. 

 The quantity of hay given to the horse should be regular, as 

 that of the oats or corn. The habit of giving a large quantity 

 one day, and but little the next, is very injurious. It begets 

 bad habits in the horse. The rack is a good way to give hay, 

 if properly made. It is not spoiled by the horse's breath as 

 when given him in a nianger. The dust is also shaken out of 

 it by drawing it from the rack. It improves the carriage of 

 the young horse's head to have been accustomed to reach up 

 for his hay. Cut hay is the best article to give. Bran, shorts, 

 and ground feed, with blue-grass, rcd-toj^, clover, rye-grass, 

 and the prairie-gTass of the West, possess nearly the same 

 properties of timothy, and may be used in place of it for hay. 

 Whatever grass is used for hay should be well cured and put 



