THE HORSK. 81 



Hay Tea. — An infusion of hay made by pouring 

 boiling water upon it, and covering it up till cool, 

 has been recommended as an excellent nutritious 

 drink for sick horses, and also for those in health. 

 It might perhaps be a very good substitute for gruel ; 

 possibly a quart or tw^o of the tea might not be a bad 

 thing for a racer, given between heats, and toward 

 the end of the day, when the horse is beginning to 

 get exhausted from fasting, but it has not been tried. 



Hay-Seed, — In Scotland, and wherever the hay is 

 made chiefly from rye-grass, the seed is often made 

 use of in feeding. It is sometimes mixed with the oats 

 to prevent the horse from swallowing them whole, 

 but most generally it is given along with the boil- 

 ed food, either to divide it or to soak up the hquor. 

 It contains more nutriment than the hay itself, but 

 probably not a great deal, unless the hay has stood 

 too long uncut. Some people say that hay-seed is 

 bad for the wind, but I have never been able to trace 

 any evil to its use. There is always much dust 

 mingled with it, and this should always be removed 

 by washing. Sometimes the seed is boiled, and 

 Bometimes merely added to the boiled food while it 

 is hot. I do not know that boiUng improves it, but 

 it is much better liked after boiling or masking than 

 in its raw state. 



STRAW. 



There are five kinds of straw used as fodder. 

 Straw, however, is little used here. In many parts 

 of Europe, wheat, barley, or rye straw forms the 

 whole or greater part of the dried herbage, hay be- 

 ing almost unknown. In some of the towns, wheat 

 and oat straw are occasionally given to cart-horses, 

 and in some cases to coaching-horses. In the country, 

 both white and black straw are in common use as win- 

 ter fodder for the farm-horses. It is very probable 



