42 



FARMERS' REGISTER— FODDER— DRY FOOD. 



food given to make up the deficiency, must be 

 added in order to ascertain the saving: thus, sup- 

 posing 24 lbs. ol' hay, at 31. per load, to be the 

 daily allowance of a horse, and this to be replaced 

 by 24 lbs. of straw, and 28 lbs. of Swedish tui-nios, 

 the latter vLilued at 6s. 8d. per ton, or 4d. per c\-^* 

 the ditierence excluding fractions would be 



d. 

 24 lbs. of hay, 24lbs. of straw 2^ "] or 9s. 4d. 



01- 8-^d. 28 " turnips 1 to Ws.6d. 



drawing and slicing ^ J'perweek 

 (if steamed) 

 Saving per horse per day 



2" j on a team 

 4 J of four, 



Whenever stmw is used, weight for weight, 

 instead of hay, their relative value, per load, may 

 be estimated according to the following scale: — 



lbs. fhay at45s.^strawat28s.6d. 

 Hay36Trifsses,561bs.eacIit=2016 I " 60s.= " 38s. 

 Straw do. 36 lbs. do. =12961 " 72s.= " 45s.7rf. 

 [ « 84s.= " 53s.2rf. 



From which calculation it results that, even 

 when the sale of straw is permitted, it may be 

 economically substituted for hay, during the winter 

 months; lor the customary market load of wheat- 

 etraw seldom fetches iriore, even in great city mar- 

 kets, than 36s., which, deducting the expenses ol 

 binding and carriage, will not, in most places, leave 

 eo much as the above sum net. J 



The haaliii of beans and peas, but especially the 

 latter, when well harvested, forms a very hearty 

 epecies of fodder. The stalk of the beans, indeed, 

 is tough and somewhat woody, and is therefore 

 commonly thrown out as farm-yard litter; but the 

 coving chad" is very good manger-meat, and even 

 the stalk, if bruised and cut and then steamed, 

 would be found useful in a farm-stable. 



Pea-haulm is very generally employed as rack- 

 meat, for which purpose it is well adapted, being 

 eucculent and nutritious, and nearly as much re- 

 lished by cattle as hay, and although it may not 

 go quite so far, there is yet a great saving in its 

 use. But both these, and all other kinds of straw 

 and haulm, should be given as fresh as possible 

 from the flail, for they grow brittle, and lose a por- 

 tion of whatever sap they possess by exposure to 

 the air: if long kept, they grow musty, and in that 

 state neither are wholesome nor will be eaten by 

 horses. Pea-haulm should be given cautiously, 

 as it is flatulent and apt to occasion colic: it is also 

 said to be productive of bots; but that, if true, is 

 not so peculiar a property as to prevent its use. 



* The value of the turnips is calculated on the sup- 

 position that the acre produces 15 tons of roots, ex- 

 clusive of tops and tails, worth 5/. per acre on the 

 ground. The quantity is too high for some soils, and 

 some modes of cultivation, especially in the southern 

 counties of England; in others, it is too low, but, as an 

 average, it comes near the truth, and each farmer may 

 make his own calculation according to the produce of 

 his land. 



t N. B. — The market weight of the ti'uss of new hay, 

 is 60 lbs., until the 4th of September. 



% Mr. Middleton calculates the expense of binding 

 and marketing straw, within eight to ten miles of Lon- 

 don, at 15s. Gtd. per load; viz. binding Is., two horses, 

 cart, and driver lis. Qd., toll-gates Is., beer, market, 

 and salesman's charges 2s., which, allowing 5s. Gd. for 

 back carriage of dung, would reduce the net price to 

 26s. per load — Survey of Middlesex, 2d edit. sec. iv. p. 

 222. I 



The straw of canary-seed is also an excellent 

 fodder; but the 'cultivation of the grain is too limit- 

 ed to render it an object of generiU notice, 



Proportion of Dry Food. 



The most nourishing food given to horses con- 

 sists of corn; and oais are con)monly considered as 

 the best adapted to their constitution; but when 

 any other species of grain is furnished in like pro- 

 portion of weight, the nicest observers have not 

 been able to discover any apparent difference in 

 its qualities, provided it be mixed with a propor- 

 tionate quantity of straw, chopped fine, or of bran, 

 to supply the place of the husk of the oats, with- 

 out which other corn should not be given. Horses 

 when not pressed by hunger, oft&Q trj' to sepa- 

 rate this chalf, or bran, from the *ain, and it is 

 therefore customary to sprinkle it with water; but 

 in that case the greatest care should be taken to 

 thoroughly cleanse the manger, for nothing is 

 more noxious to horses than tbod thus wetted and 

 allowed to become stale. Grain of every descrip- 

 tion ought to be li-ee from the natural fermentation 

 which it undergoes if not in a perfectly dry state. 

 Oats harvested in a wet season have been known 

 to occasion epidemical disorders among cattle, and 

 farmers frequently do serious injuries to their 

 horses by supplying them with it soon after it has 

 been reaped. Corn that has sprouted is not un- 

 wholesome, provided it has not imbibed a bad 

 smell fi-om having been heated; and malt, or bar- 

 ley which has been onl^ slightly steeped for two 

 or three days, though whhout being dry-malted, 

 ig considered particularly nutritive. It is thought, 

 indeed, that the comjiletion of the process adds 

 much to its invigorating properties, and it is often 

 used in that shape on the continent, though not in 

 a larger proportion than one-third of other grain; * 

 but, even if it has that effect, the duty on malt 

 prevents its consumption by cattle in this country, 

 and it cannot even be purposely wetted without 

 incurring the suspicion of the excise. Many 

 horses, also, which eat voraciously, are in the 

 habit of bolting their food without chewing it; in 

 which case their oats should never be given with- 

 out being either mixed with chaff, or else bruised 

 by cylinders, such as are used in bruising or grind- 

 ing malt. 



Beans, and latterly peas, are also largely given 

 to farm-horses, without any prejudicial effect; and, 

 if care be taken not to supply them in summer, 

 at which season they are found to be too heating, 

 no bad eflect will be found to arise from their use: 

 but, as they contain an unusual proportion of sap, 

 they should be at least twelve months old: if they 

 shrink in quantity, it will be made up in quality. 



When horses are fed on hay, it is a matter of 

 dispute whether the light and apparently arid grass 

 of uplands, or that of more fertile natural meadow 

 ground, or the rich produce of the artificial grasses, 

 is to be preferred. This must however depend on 

 the quantity of corn with which they are supplied. 

 When that is abundantly furnished, there can be 

 no doubt that the former will be found better for 

 their general health, and especially for their wind; 

 but as farm-horses are generally limited in their 

 consumption of grain, and the slowness of their 

 movement renders the clearness of their wind a 



*Von Thaer, Priucipes Raisonnes d'Agriculture, 

 vol. iv. p. 693. 



