FOOD. 377 



Herbage, green and dry, constitutes a principal part of the food of the horse. There 

 are few things with regard to which the farmer is so careless as the mixture of grasse> 

 on both his upland and meadow pasture. Hence we find, in the same field, the ray- 

 ^rass, cominir to perfection only in a loamy soil, not fit to cut until the middle or lat- 

 ter part of July, and yielding little aftermath ; the meadow fox-tail, best cultivated in 

 a clayey soil, fit for the scythe in the beginning of June, and yielding a plentiful 

 aftermath ; the glaucous fescue-grass, ready at the middle of June, and rapidly dete- 

 rioratiaiT in value as its seeds ripen; and the fertile meadow-grass, increasing in value 

 until the end of July. These are circumstances the importance of which will, at no 

 distant period, be recognised. In the mean time, Sinclair's account of the different 

 grasses, or the condensation of the most important part of his work in Sir Humphry 

 Davy's Agricultural Chemistry, or Low's Elements of Practical Agriculture, are well 

 deserving of the diligent perusal of the farmer. 



Hay is most in perfection when it is about a twelvemonth old. The horse perhaps 

 would prefer it earlier, but it is neither so wholesome nor so nuti"itive, and often has 

 a purgative quality. When it is about a year old, it retains or should retain some- 

 what of its green colour, its agreeable smell and its pleasant taste. It has undergone 

 the slow process of fermentation, by which the sugar which it contains is developed, 

 and its nutritive quality is fully exercised. Old hay becomes dry and tasteless, and 

 innutritive and unwholeso;ne. After the grass is cut, and the hay stacked, a slight 

 degree of fermentation takes place in it. This is necessary for the development of 

 the saccharine principle ; but occasionally it proceeds t^o far and the hay becomes 

 mowburni, in which state it is injurious, or even poisonous. The horse soon shows 

 the effect which it has upon him. He has diabetes to a considerable degree — he 

 becomes hidebound — his strength is wasted — his thirst is excessive, and he is almost 

 worthless. 



Where the system of manger-feeding is not adopted, or where hay is still allowed 

 at night, and chaff and corn in the day, there is no error into which the farmer is so 

 apt to fall as to give an undue quantity of hay, and tliat generally of the worst kind. 

 If the manger system is good, there can be no necessity for haj^ or only for a small 

 quantity of it; but if the rack is overloaded, the greedy horse will be eating all night, 

 instead of taking his rest — when the time for the morning feed arrives, his stomach 

 will be already filled, and he will be less capable of work from the want of sleep, and 

 from the long-continued distension of the stomach rendering it impossible for the food 

 to be properly digested. 



It is a good practice to sprinkle the hay with water in which salt has been dis- 

 solved. It is evidently more palatable to the animal, who will leave the bestunsalted 

 hay for that of an inferior quality that has been moistened with brine; and there can 

 be no doubt that the salt very materially assists the process of digestion. The pre- 

 ferable way of salting the hay is to sprinkle it over the different layers as the rick is 

 formed. From its attraction for water, it would combine with that excess of moisture 

 which, in wet seasons, is the cause of too rapid and violent fermentation, and of the 

 hay becoming mowburnt, or the rick catching fire, and it would become more incor- 

 porated with the hay. The only objection to its being thus used is, that the colour 

 of the hay is not so bright ; but this will be of little consequence for home consump- 

 tion. 



Of the value of Tares, as forming a portion of the late spring and summer food of 

 the stabled and agricultural horse, there can be no doubt. They are cut afier the pods 

 are formed, but a considerable time before the seeds are ripe. They supply a larger 

 quantity of food for a limited time than almost any other forage-crop. The vicia sa'ira 

 is the most profitable variety of the tare. It is very nutritive, and acts as a gentle 

 aperient. When surfeit-lumps appear on the skin, and the hnrse bejins to ri;h him- 

 self afrainst the divisions of the stall, and the legs swell, and the heels threaten to 

 crack, a few tares, cut up with the chaff, or given instead of a portion of the hay. will 

 afford considerable relief. Ten or twelve pounds may be allowed daily, and half that 



and trlossy. They got no corn, and only 7 pounds of hay, instead of the ordinary .TllowaRCP. 

 which is 12 pounds. The sugar seemed to supply the place of the corn so well, that it would 

 have been probably given abroad ; but peace came, and the circumstances that rendered the 

 use of susjar for corn desirable rea.sed, and the horses returned to their usual diet. That the 

 sugar might not be appropriated to other purposes it was slightly scented with assafcEtida, 

 which did not produce any apparent effect upon them." 



32* 2x . 



