my. noRsjK. 89 



above fourteen pounds ; others will manage nearly 

 eighteen. In most stables some other grain is used. 

 For every pound of barley or beans that may be 

 given, rather more than an equal weight is taken off 

 the ordinary allowance of oats. Saddle-horses re- 

 ceive about twelve pounds of oats, cart-horses from 

 ten to fourteen. Those employed on the farm get 

 from four to twelve pounds. The ordinary feeding- 

 measure in Scotland, termed a lippy, holds from 

 three to four pounds of heavy oats. 



Suhstitzites for Oats have been frequently sought. 

 Many experiments have been made to ascertain how 

 far their use might be dispensed with. Roots and 

 bread have both been tried, and the results have 

 shown that horses of moderate work, or even labo- 

 rious work at a slow pace, can be kept in good condi- 

 tion on carrots or potatoes, with some fodder and no 

 grain. The bread has been made from grain, but it 

 does not seem to have been productive of any eco- 

 nomy. Barley, beans, peas and wheat, are partial 

 substitutes for oats. They may form a large por- 

 tion of the grain ; and in Spain barley forms the 

 whole of it. But in this country oats are in gene- 

 ral as cheap as any of the other kinds of grain. It 

 has been alleged that oats contain some aromatic, 

 invigorating property, not possessed by other articles ; 

 and it does appear that horses fed on roots to the ex- 

 clusion of grain, are not so gay as grain-fed horses. 

 But whether oats, in equal weight, give the horse 

 more animation than other kinds of grain, is not 

 known with certainty, although common opinion is 

 in their favour. 



Gruel is made from oat-meal. It is very useful 

 for sick horses : and after a day of severe exertion, 

 when the horse will not take solid food, gruel is the 

 best thinof he can have. Few stablemen are able to 

 make it properly. The meal is never sufficiently in- 

 corporated with the water. One gallon of good gruel 



8* 



