294 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE. 



, iii^vu., 



peat-moss bedding will last a long time. The black 

 mare before us was bedded down seven weeks ago. 

 and her bed will last a week or two yet, perhaps 

 longer. Other horses, that scatter their hay and 

 trample it under foot, need a fresh bale every two 

 or three weeks, and perhaps the average time that 

 it lasts in good condition is four weeks. Thus it 

 appears, on the whole, that peat-moss is a cheap form 

 of bedding. 



In summer, sawdust frequently renewed makes a 

 good bed, but it is too cold for winter, except as a sub- 

 stratum with straw on top. Where I live " meadow ' ; 

 hay cut near the river can be had for $6 or $7 per 

 ton. It is not quite so clean as straw for bedding ; 

 but some of it will be eaten by horses, and, unless 

 their work is fast work, it forms not only a cheap, but 

 also a wholesome food. The best straw for bedding, 

 as everybody knows, is rye straw, which usually costs 

 about $20 per ton, and is more economical than oat 

 straw, which costs about half as much. The bedding 

 should of course be well dried in the sun ; meadow 

 hay can thus be used twice, oat straw two or three 

 times, and rye straw half a dozen times or more. 



The chief points to be observed about bedding are, 

 first, that it should always be kept under a horse, for 

 the reasons previously stated, and, secondly, that it 

 should be used profusely. A horse likes a deep soft 

 bed, — such as he does not usually have in ]STew Eng- 

 land. An English groom will bed down his horses in 

 a manner to make a Yankee stare. But if the truth 

 were known, liberal bedding is not only beneficial to 

 the horse, it is also economical. If much straw be 

 used, it can all be dried, and used again and again, 



