21 



In Europe favorable results have attended the use of such mixtures 

 as blood-molasses, but these feeds are as yet little known in the United 

 States. 



FRUITS, FRESH AND DRIED 



Althoug-h horses are often given apples as they are given lumps of 

 sugar, fruit is not generally thought of as a feeding stuff, yet its use 

 for this purpose is by no means novel. The Arabs, it is said, com- 

 monlv feed their horses fresh dates, which are apparently eaten with 

 relisb. Sometimes the dates (3 or 4 pounds at a time) are mixed with 

 water to a sort of mush before feeding. It is believed that dates are 

 fattening, but that they do not produce muscle. 



In California, and possibly in other regions, fruit, especially prunes 

 and other dried fruit, is sometimes fed when the market is overstocked 

 or when for some other reason it can not be profitably sold. Accord- 

 ing to a statement recently published, small prunes of low market 

 value have been successfully fed to horses for a long period. It is 

 stated that the horses eat them with relish. The pits should be 

 crushed before feeding. 



All common fruits when fresh are very succulent, containing on an 

 average 80 to 90 per cent water, the nutritive material consisting 

 almost entirely of carboh^^drates. When dried — i. e., concentrated 

 by evaporation — they are much more nutritious. Raisins, prunes, 

 dried" peaches, etc., contain about 25 per cent water and about TO per 

 cent carbohydrates, of which a considerable part is sugar. The value 

 of sugar as a nutrient is recognized, and it is not surprising, therefore, 

 that fruits, especially after drying, should have a considerable feed- 

 ing value. The feeding value of fruit has been especially studied at 

 the California Station. 



Succulent fruits or vegetables are little used in the United States, 

 but it is interesting to note that in South Africa pumpkins are often 

 given to horses as green feed. In Oklahoma and doubtless other regions 

 where they are grown extensively, stock melons are fed to all farm 

 stock, including horses, when there is a shortage of other succulent 

 crops. 



INJURIOUS FEEDING STUFFS. 



In feeding horses precautions should always be taken to avoid mate- 

 rials harmful in themselves, or those which have become harmful. 

 Dirt, small stones, etc., should be removed from grain by proper 

 screening, and all feeding stuffs should be clean. 



There are a number of plants which' are poisonous to horses when 

 eaten in any considerable amount. The loco plants, mostly species of 

 Astragalus, are ordinarily regarded as of this class. These plants have 

 been studied by the Colorado, Kansas, South Dakota, Montana, and 

 Oklahoma stations among others, and by this Department, but the 



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