346 THE ESSENTIALS OF AGRICULTURE 



450. Variety of feeds required for fattening horses and mules. 

 In fattening horses and mules it is important to supply them 

 with a variety of palatable feeds, so as to induce them to eat as 

 much as possible. It is only by this means that rapid and inex- 

 pensive gains can be made. Horses and mules, like all other 

 animals, make rapid, inexpensive gains when thin, and slow, 

 costly gains when nearly fat. 



STANDARD RATIONS FOR FATTENING HORSES AND MULES 



0) (2) 



Grain Grain 



Corn, 8 parts Corn, 6 parts 



Oats, 2 parts Oats, 2 parts 



Bran, 2 parts 



Roughage Roughage 



Clover or alfalfa hay Clover or alfalfa hay 



Sorghum hay and corn stover Oat straw and corn stover 



(3) (4) 



Grain Grain 



Corn, 9 parts Corn, 8 parts 



Linseed meal, i part Linseed meal, 2 parts 



Sheaf oats 



Roughage Roughage 



Clover hay, alfalfa and Corn silage, oat straw, and 



sorghum hay timothy hay 



451. Watering. Under natural conditions horses remain 

 close to water and drink frequently. The more nearly these 

 conditions can be supplied for domestic horses the better will 

 be the results. Pure water constantly accessible to the animals 

 when at pasture is very important. Opinions differ as to how 

 frequently work stock should be watered and as to whether 

 the water should be given before feeding or after feeding. If 

 the water is given before feeding, some persons believe that too 

 much water will be drunk and not enough feed will be eaten. 

 Others believe that if the water is given immediately after 

 the meal, much of the undigested food will be washed from the 



