242 FEEDS AND FEEDING, ABRIDGED 



Timothy hay. — Altho not rich in digestible nutrients, timothy hay 

 is the standard roughage for the horse thruout the northeastern 

 United States. Its popularity is due to its freedom from dust, its 

 palatability, and the fact that it can be secured on almost any market. 

 While timothy cut too green makes "washy" hay, it should not be 

 allowed to stand until it becomes woody and indigestible. A reason- 

 able allowance of timothy hay is 1 lb. daily per 100 lbs. of animal. 



Cereal hay. — On the Pacific coast, especially in California, the 

 cereal hays — barley, wild oat, wheat, etc. — are extensively employed 

 as roughages for horses, and in the Rocky mountain region oat hay is 

 of considerable importance. Hay from the cereals can often be ad- 

 vantageously employed in many other sections of the country, as it 

 is fully equal to timothy. 



Other carbonaceous hays. — Prairie hay from the wild grasses is an 

 excellent roughage for the horse thruout the western states, being but 

 slightly less valuable than timothy. Brome hay, a common roughage 

 in the northern plains region, is fully equal to timothy. Millet hay 

 from Hungarian grass, Japanese millet, etc., can often be fed ad- 

 vantageously to horses. The amount should be limited and it should 

 be fed with grain and preferably with other roughage, as otherwise 

 serious kidney trouble may result. Bermuda hay and Johnson-grass 

 hay are southern roughages well suited to horses and equal to timothy 

 in feeding value. 



Corn fodder and corn stover. — Thickly grown fodder corn and 

 corn stover, when properly cured and cared for, are among the best 

 of roughages for the horse, for they are palatable and usually quite 

 free from dust. For stallions, brood mares, idle horses, and growing 

 colts good corn forage is usually an economical substitute for timothy 

 hay. In a trial at the New Hampshire Station ^ corn stover was suc- 

 cessfully used as the only roughage for farm horses doing light work 

 in winter. When the yield and feeding value of fodder corn are com- 

 pared with that of the timothy hay from a like area, the usefulness 

 and economy of this much neglected forage are apparent. 



Sorghum fodder or hay. — Forage from the sweet sorghums, when 

 properly cured, is superior to corn forage for horses. It usually 

 deteriorates rapidly in value after midwinter unless well cured and 

 kept dry. Moldy, decayed sorghum forage is especially dangerous to 

 horses. Kafir, tho not so palatable as the sweet sorghums, is exten- 

 sively and profitably used in the southwestern states. 



Straw. — Owing to its large content of fiber and consequent low 

 value for the production of work, but little straw can be fed to hard- 

 worked horses. On the other hand, horses doing little or no work and 



2 Burkett, N. H. Bui. 82. 



