28 



vails in the arid and semiarid regions of the United States, causes the 

 development of the poison in excess. 



METHOD OF FEEDING. 



The method of feeding is a subject which is often discussed, the 

 questions of especial interest being the comparative merits of cooked 

 and raw feed, dry and soaked grain, ground and unground grain, and 

 cut or chaffed and uncut coarse fodder. The number of experiments 

 which have to do with these topics is not large. 



COOKED AND RAW FEED. 



One of the early French investigators compared oats and an equal 

 volume of rye boiled until the grain burst. The results were not favor- 

 able to cooking the feed. According to another of his tests, 30.8 pounds 

 of mashed steamed potatoes could not replace 11 pounds of hay. The 

 potatoes were mixed with cut straw and fed cold. 



It is often claimed that cooking feed increases its palatability and 

 digestibility. The general conclusion drawn from tests with farm 

 animals is that this belief is not warranted, and that the cost of cook- 

 ing is not made up for by the increased value of the ration. It has 

 been stated on good authority that boiled feed is useful for colts, brood 

 mares, and stallions if fed two or three times per week, and that draft 

 horses which are being prepared for sale or for exhibition may be 

 given cooked feed once a da}^ with advantage. An excellent feed for 

 horses, it is said, ma}" be made by boiling barley and oats in a kettle 

 with considerable water and pouring the mass over chaffed hay, allow- 

 ing the whole to stand until the ha}' is well softened. Bran, roots, 

 and a small quantit}^ of oil meal may be added also. 



DRY AND SOAKED FEED. 



It is often claimed that soaking feed, especially hard grain, renders it 

 more easil}^ masticated and improves its digestibility. It is doubtful 

 if the matter is as important with horses as some other classes of farm 

 animals. It has been found in experimental tests that healthy horses 

 with good teeth digested dry beans and corn as well as the same mate- 

 rials which had been soaked in water for 21 hours. 



Soaking or wetting feed may sometimes be of importance as regards 

 the health of horses. According to the experience of an English 

 feeder, chaffed straw, which was fed on account of a shortage in the 

 hay crop, gave better results when soaked than when dry. The dry 

 material caused colic and constipation. It was also observed that the 

 horses relished soaked grain (corn and oats 1:1). 



It is believed that the dust in hay causes heaves, and to avoid such 

 trouble both long and cut ha}^ especiall}^ clover, is very often damp- 

 ened before feeding, to lay Ihe dust. 



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