40 



FARMERS' REGISTER— HORSE FEEDING— STEAM. 



In Essex, we have the authority of Messrs. 

 Vancouver and Arthur Young,who separately sur- 

 veyed the county, that working horses have been 

 kept through the winter entirely on steanicd pota- 

 toes, to every SOOlbs. of which tiiere was added 

 hah' a pint ol" salt, and occasionally a small por- 

 tion of surp^iur; and that, 'led in this manner, they 

 performed with the greatest ease all the commnn 

 labor of the. farm, without either hay or oats.'* 

 The difference of the expense of a team of five, 

 during half a year — calculating the potatoes as 

 worth 40s. per ton, and hay and oats respectively 

 at £3. the load, and 24s. per quarter, which nearly 

 accords with the estimate of consumption in the 

 survey, would stand thus: — 

 Potatoes. 



5 Horses 182 days, at 50 lbs. each, 

 45,000 lbs. t or 18 tons, at 405. 



Washing and steaming at 2d. per 

 lOOlbs'. 



3 Bushels of salt at 2s. 



Sulphur ----- 



Hay and Oats. 



£. 

 36 







d. 

 



3 15 



40 4 4(a) 

 £. s. d. 



6 Horses 182 day.s, at 24 lbs. each, 



hay, 21,840 lbs. or 10 5-6 loads ^ 32 10 

 at £3 S 



Ditto 26 weeks, at 2 bushels each, 

 oats 32 1 quarters at 24s. 



39 



£71 10 

 40 4 4 



Balance in favor of potatoes, 31 5 8 



The cost would thus be a fraction more than 

 lO^d per day, and the saving about six guineas for 

 each horse in the winter half year, if they could 

 be kept in that manner so long; but this mode of 

 feeding cannot be commenced before November, 

 nor continued after February, for, notwithstand- 

 ing the .assertion of the reporters, as Avell as of 

 many other persons of veracity respecting the 

 'common labor of a farm,' during the depth of 

 winter, it cannot be continued during the spring, 

 upon land that is properly cultivated, without 

 either an unusual number of horses, or an allow- 

 ance of corn. J Upon this statement, it is also to 

 be observed, that supposing the oats to weigh 

 35 lbs. per bushel, the dailj' allowance would then 

 be 34 lbs. of hard meat, or Is. 7d. per day, which 

 is the highest estimate that can be admitted for a 

 common-sized cart-horse, and would assuredly 

 support him in better condition than any quantity 



* Young's Survey of Essex, vol. 1, p. 398. 



t The cwt. of potatoes is usually calculated to weigh 

 126 lbs. Then 126 by 20=2520 by 18=45360. V. 

 Thaer calculates 1 cwt. of hay as equivalent to 3 

 bushels of potatoes: both, however, necessarily vary 

 much in quality. 



t A correspondent in the Farmers' Magazine, vol. ii. 

 p. 217, recommends a mixture of 4 lbs. of boiled po- 

 tatoes and 4 lbs. of bran, at each feed: adding, from six 

 years' experience, that this method 'saved much corn, 

 and gave his horses a very fine skin.' Were 2 lbs. of 

 ground oil-cake substituted for the bran, it would form 

 a far heartier feed, without much difference of cost. 



(a) The error in this calculation is in the original. 

 [Ed. Farm. Reg.} 



of potatoes that he could consume. Were the 

 allowances of corn and hay reduced in a fair pro- 

 portion to the Avorking value of the food, the cost 

 would, therefore, be more equalized; but although 

 experience may not justily ihe sanguine expecta- 

 tions of the advocates of leguminous plants, as 

 hoiss-meat, to the iliU extent of their calculations, 

 there can yet be no doubt that on light soils, and 

 in situations which do not afford a market lor field 

 roots, they may be advantageously substituted for 

 hay, and when the work is not severe, even for a 

 considerable portion of corn. 



Reo-arding carrots, we have also the evidence 

 in their favor of Mr. Curwen, who substituted 

 them for a portion of the usual allowance of corn, 

 and has adduced a certificate from his groom and 

 farrier, that "when from 8 lbs. to 12 lbs of oats 

 are allowed to a work-horse per daj", according to 

 its employment, 4 lbs. maybe deducted for 5 lbs. of 

 carrots, and the sphit, condition, and ability of the 

 horse to perform his work improved by the same:"* 

 but the saving this effected amounted only to a 

 shilling in the week. Other accounts state a bushel 

 of carrots to be given daily instead of oats; and 

 an Essex sportsman is mentioned, v/hose horses, 

 thus fed, without any corn, follow a pack of har- 

 riers twice a week.f 



In the Sandlings of Suffolk, horses are chiefly 

 fed on carrots, with sometimes hay, and sometimes 

 corn, and sometimes with only straw; viz: — 



6 horses, 2 loads of 40 bushels per week, no 

 corn, and a little hay. 



Do. 1 load, with corn in the spring-time, ajid 

 little hay. 



Do. 72 bushels per Aveek; no oats, and half the 

 usual alloAvance of haj'. 



The horses are said to be in superior condi- 

 tion than when fed on oats; but this probably 

 arises from their being allowed as much as they 

 Avill eat, while oats are allowanced.f In Surrey, 

 also, where carrots are extensively cultivated, a 

 team of four good horses gets about 60 bushels 

 per week until Christmas, with plenty of sweet 

 chaff, or clover hay, but no corn; and after that 40 

 bushels are given, with 2 bushels of oats, and a suf- 

 ficiency of chaff. II 



Common turnips scarcely merit notice as horse- 

 food; but Swedes have been given in various in- 

 stances, besides those already particularized, with 

 evident advantage, both sliced in their raw state, 

 and steamed; and as they are both more common- 

 ly cultivated and less expensive than most other 

 roots, they are deserving of the superior attention 

 of economists. 



Steam. 



The chief A'alue of boiling, or steaming the food 



of animals, seems to consist in rendering it more 



easy of digestion, and thus, perhaps enabling them 



to retain a greater portion of its nutriment than 



* Hints on the Economy of Feeding Stock, &c,, p. 

 207. 



t Berkshire Report, p. 228. Essex do., vol. ii., p. 5. 

 In the communications to the Board of Agriculture, 

 there is also an instance of farm-horses fully worked 

 and fed entirely on carrots, instead of ha)^; but they 

 get 70 lbs. each, sliced, along with chaff. — Vol. vii., 

 art. ii., part 1. 



J Suffolk Report, chap vii., p. 125—140. 



II Malcolm's Modern Husbandry of Surrey, Kent, 

 and Sussex, p. 482. 



