248 MASS. EXPERIMENT ^TATION BULLETIN 188. 



4. The proportion which the protein of the food should bear to the car- 

 bohydrates and fat (nutritive ratio) has been a matter of considerable 

 study and dispute. The International Congress of Nutrition ^ in 1900 dis- 

 cussed the matter and concluded that a relation of 1 : 6 to 1 : 7 was the most 

 suitable. Lavalard ^ states, as a result of his experiments, that 1 : 6 to 1:9 

 are permissible and satisfactory. Kellner^ states that for horses doing 

 work at a walk a ratio of 1 : 10 is allowable, but that for hard work, and 

 especially work done at a trot, a ratio of 1: 7 is preferable, because in such 

 cases extra protein is needed to furnish maximum amounts of blood in 

 order to carry the oxygen required for the rapid breaking down of the food 

 material. 



5. Experience has taught feeders, especially in European countries, 

 that it is advisable to crush the coarse grains before feeding, and to cut 

 the roughage and make a mixture of the two. The cut roughage aids in 

 absorbing any moist feeds, particularly molasses, and also serves as a 

 distributor of the heavy concentrates. 



6. French investigators have reconunended the substituting of corn, 

 barley, rye, oil cakes, sugar and molasses for oats, and the reducing of the 

 coarse fodders to a minimum, particularly for hard-worked horses, — as 

 low in some cases as 6 pounds daily per 1,000 pounds live weight. 



7. Cut straw has been highly recommended in place of hay because it 

 is cheaper, is less likely to cause colic, contains less foreign material than 

 hay, and serves as an excellent medium for the distribution of the grain. 



8. A mixture which the French authority, Lavalard, recpmmends con- 

 sists of 8 pounds of oats, 9 pounds of corn, 1 pound of beans, 5 pounds of 

 molassine meal, and 7 pounds of chopped straw. This mixture contains, 

 of digestible nutrients, 1.7 pounds protein, .47 pound fat, 11.52 pounds 

 carbohydrates, 27.5 pounds total dry matter, and 27,712 calories of energy 

 and is sufficient for hard-worked horses of 1,100 pounds weight. 



9. For roughage the coarser hays, including alfalfa and clover, are recom- 

 mended, also oat, wheat and barley straws. 



10. Kellner recommends also as satisfactory concentrates, in addition 

 to the cereals (excepting wheat), linseed, cocoanut and palm nut meal in 

 amounts not exceeding 1 to 2 pounds daily. He states that corn, small 

 amounts of brewers' grains, rice and linseed meals can be used in order 

 to reduce the amount of oats to a minimum. 



11. In the United States relatively large amounts of corn are fed, while 

 on the Pacific coast barley of good quality predominates. In the semi- 

 arid regions Kaffir corn and alfalfa have been used satisfactorily, particu- 

 larly the latter. 



12. The amount of water required daily depends upon the size of the 

 animal, the work performed, and the time of year. The time of watering 

 — whether before or after feeding — is a matter of minor importance. 

 Horses become accustomed to both methods, and care should be taken 

 to avoid sudden changes from the accustomed method. 



1 L' Alimentation du Cheval, pp. 100, 101 



» Die Ernahrxing d. landw. NQtzthiere, Sechste Auflage, p. 455. 



