FARMERS' REGISTER 



477 



as I have not seen it tried to a preater extent, I 

 cannot lell what might be the result. 



Wheal sliould never be given alone. Chart', 

 *:|raw-cha(i is t)esl, serves to divide it, and ensures 

 complete tnasiication. 'J'hevvheai mixes betiervviih 

 the chad' when it is flattened with a pair oi' rollerp. 



Boiled vviieat is in common use. It is boiled 

 wiih beans and chati, and generally li)rms the last ' 

 leed, or the lasi bni one, at night, [t soon gets 

 sour, and makes the mangers of wood verj' lijul. 

 No more should be boiled nor given than will be 

 consumed belitre next morning. It should not be 

 boileil to a jellv. h should always be mixed with 

 ciiafl; 



Tliehusk of wheat is very nsel'nl, and employed 

 in all town stables. It noes under several names, 

 ol which the principal are bran, and [jollard, hen- 

 meal, and irudiiings. 'J''here are two kinds, the 

 one much finer than the other. The coarsest is 

 most usually termed bran ; pollard is supposed to 

 contain and to yield more nutriment ; but the di!- 

 lerence does not appear to be great. 



JJraii is seldom given in its dry slate, but when 

 beans or peas Ibrm the bulk ol" corn, some dry 

 bran is added, lo make the horse masticate them, 

 and to correct the consiipaling propeity ct" these 

 article-. 



£raii-mash is the usual (bod ot" sick horses ; it 

 relaxes the bowels. Its laxative property has 

 been supi)osed lo depend upon mechanical irrita- 

 lalion, which cannot be true, since bran is consti- 

 pating to dogs. It contains little nutriment, but 

 supplies the place ol" corn to an idle or a sick 

 horse, when lie must be kept low ; and it helps to 

 kee[) the bowels in order when the horse is con- 

 fined to hay without corn. The bran-mash is 

 given either cold or warm. Some horses like it 

 better in one way than another ; some will not eat 

 it when mashed, but will take it dry, and a It^w 

 seem to dislike it altogeiher. The cold bran-mash 

 is usually made with cold water; as much being 

 poured upon the bran as it will absorb. The warm 

 mash'xs made wiih boiling water. The mash should 

 bn closely covered up till cool enough to be eaten. 

 When oats, beans, and hay Ibrm the ordinary 

 leeding, it is usual to give a large bran-mash, 

 about hair a paill'ul once a week. It relaxes the 

 bowels, operating upon them very iipnily, and 

 clearing out their contents. In Scotlauil, road and 

 canal- horses work none on Sunday. On Saturday 

 niifht they iiet a bran mash insiead of their ordi- 

 nary feed of corn ; but when grasd or boiled meat 

 is in season, bran is not generally used in this 

 way. NVhen the horses are in liigh condition, 

 with bowels liable to constipation, the bran-mash 

 prevents any evil that nught arise from Sunday's 

 rest; but when low in flesh, doing all the work 

 they can bear, they can hardly aflbrd to lose a 

 meal, even though they rest on Sunday. If ihc 

 bowels be costive, ihc mash may be given, but 

 the corn should be given too ; not both together, 

 lor a bran-mash almost compels the horse to swal- 

 low his corn without mastication. 



Many stableman add bran to the boiled food. 

 They seem to think its use indispensable; they 

 talk as if the food could not be eaten or not boiled 

 without the addition of bran. This is nonsense. 

 The food may be ofconslipating quality, and bran 

 will be wanted (o correct that ; or the horse''s health 

 or his work may make bran a useful article in his 

 food. JBut to give bran as nourishment to a horse 



under ordinary circumstances, is to give him al- 

 most the dearest food he can live upon, even when 

 his work does not absolutely demand stronger 

 Ibod. A slnlling's worth of oats is a great deal 

 more nourishing than a shilling's worth of bran. 

 To the horse, tiran is just what gruel is to man ; 

 but the relative cost of tlie two is very diffierent. 



IVheateii bread, either brown or while, is much 

 relished by nearly all horses. Occasionally it may 

 be given to a horse that 1ms been tired off his 

 appetite, or to an invalid. It should never be less 

 than iwenty-lbur hours old, and il should be given 

 only in small quantity. Eakers sometimes give 

 iheir horses a good deal of ii, but it ought to be 

 irixed wiih chaff. Some will not eat it till it is 

 mashed by pouring boiling water over it. 



Buck-icheat, or brank, is hanlly known in this 

 country. Il is used on the con;inent, and the 

 horses are said to thrive on it. Young says that 

 a l)ushel goes farther than two of oats, and that, 

 mixed with at least linir times as much bran, one 

 bushel will be full feed for anv horse (or a week. 

 The author of ihe Farmer's Calendar thinks ho 

 has seen it produce a stupilying cflect ; and Bracy 

 Clarke says it appeared to him lobe very laxative. 

 In Holland and many parts of Germany and 

 Norway, it is made into a black bread, with which 

 the horses are led. 



Maize or Indian-corn, is much used as a horse- 

 corn in America, and in various pans of Europe. 

 Cobbett recommended its introduction, and among 

 its other uses, spoke of horse-lijeding. I do not 

 know that it has been tried sufficiently to determine 

 whether it might be used with advantage during 

 a scarcity of other corn. Probably it ought to be 

 boiled and mixed wiih chatf, but horses eat it 

 greedily when raw. Bracy Clarke says it is apt 

 to clog the stomach and affect the (tjet in such a 

 singular way, that the hoofs frequently fall oiY 

 when the horse is on a journey. He alludes to 

 Ibunder, but seems irrnorant that any kind of corn, 

 when improperly <fiven, will protiuce the same 

 elfecf. Perhaps maize does it more readily. 



" Rye is very generally employed as horse-corn 

 in North America. It is coarsely firound, and 

 sprinkled over straw and clover chaff, previously 

 wetted, by which means the whole mass is well 

 incorporated ; mastication also is so much assisted, 

 that no part is waited, and the condition of the 

 carriers' horses on the roads in Pennsylvania, 

 where they are universally l(?d in this way, and 

 are seldom lodged in a stable, proves the ex- 

 cellence of the practice. Rye is also used in Ger- 

 many, but generally in the shape of bread made 

 from the whole flour and bran ; and it is nor. 

 unusual, in travellings through some parts of that 

 country, and of Holland, to see the postilions help 

 themselves and their horses from the same loaf "'*= 



Beans. — There are several varieties ol'the bean 

 in use as horse-corn, but I do not know that one 

 is better than anoiher. The small plump bean is 

 preferred lo the large shrivelled kind. Whichever 

 be used, the beans should be old, sweet and sound. 

 New beans are indigestible and flatulent; they 

 produce colic, and founder very readily. They 

 should be at least a year old. Beans are olien ill- 

 harvested ; and wlien musty or mouldy, though 

 quite sweet internally, horses do not like ihem. 

 They are often attacked by an insect which con- 

 sumes much of the flour, and destroys the vilal- 



Biitish Hus'iaiulry, vol. i.p. 711). 



