18 



of the horses. It is stated that attacks of colic and other digestive 

 disorders can be prevented by a judicious system of feeding. In dis- 

 cussing their investigations the station points out that it is absurd to 

 claim that a horse will not eat more than is necessary if allowed the 

 libert}'- of the stack and the grain bin. The argument is sometimes 

 advanced that a horse under natural conditions, on pasture, never eats 

 more than is necessary, and that under these conditions he is never 

 subject to digestive disorders. While this is undoubtedly true, it must 

 be kept in mind that as soon as the horse is stabled and required to 

 work, he has been taken away from his natural condition and placed 

 in an unnatural evironment. 



It was observed that larger amounts of water were consumed on the 

 alfalfa ration and that the amount of urine excreted was also larger 

 and had a higher specific gravity. The excess, however, was never 

 found great enough to cause any inconvenience. These experiments 

 at the Utah Station are especially interesting since they confirm the 

 results of twelve years' practical tests of the feeding value of alfalfa. 

 During this period the station horses have always received this mate- 

 rial as a coarse fodder, except when they were fed other rations for 

 experimental purposes. 



The Wyoming Station has also made some experiments which dem- 

 onstrate the value of alfalfa hay as a horse feed. In discussing the 

 subject of alfalfa for horses, the California Station says in effect that 

 in regions where it is a staple crop the quantity of protein which can 

 be supplied in green and cured alfalfa is so great that much less grain 

 is required than when the coarse fodder consists of cereal ha^^s only. 

 For the Pacific coast, where cereal hays replace so largely those from 

 meadow grasses, the station recommends a ration of alfalfa hay with 

 wheat hay or barley hay and grain. 



In a recent discussion of horse feeding under local conditions the 

 Louisiana Station has pointed out the value of cowpea-vine hay. 



The outcome of the different experiments is in accord with the obser- 

 vation of careful feeders, viz, that the various common coarse fodders 

 may be fed to horses as circumstances demand. Although timothy 

 hay is in many regions regarded as the preferable coarse feed, yet 

 experience has shown that corn fodder, hay from wheat, barley, and 

 other cereal grains, and from clover and alfalfa may be substituted 

 for it. That this is what might be expected is shown b}^ a study of 

 the composition of these feeding stuffs. They resemble one another 

 very closely in the character and amount of nutrients which they con- 

 tain — alfalfa, clover, and other leguminous hays being richer in pro- 

 tein than the cured grasses and cereal forage. Straw is not much fed 

 to horses in the United States, but is a common feeding stuff in Europe. 

 As shown by its composition and digestibilit}^ it compares quite favor- 



170 



