378 THE GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF THE HORSE. 



weight of hay subtracted. It is an erroneous notion, that, g^iven in moderate quanti- 

 ties, they either roughen the coat or lessen the capability for hard work. 



RvE Grass affords a valuable article of food, but is inferior to the tare. It is not 

 so nutritive. It is apt to scour and, occasionally, and late in the spring, it has ap- 

 peared to be injurious to the horse. 



Clover, for soiling the horse, is inferior to the tare and the rye grass, but neverthe- 

 less, is useful M'hen they cannot be obtained. Clover hay is, perhaps, preferable to 

 meadow hay for chaff". It will sometimes tempt the sick horse, and may be given 

 with advantage to those of slow and heavy work ; but custom seems properly to have 

 forbidden it to the hunter and the hackney. 



LucERN, where it can be obtained, is preferable even to tares, and sain-foin is supe- 

 rior to lucern. Although they contain but a small quantity of nutritive matter, it is 

 easily digested, and perfectly assimilated. They speedily put both muscle and fat 

 on the horse that is worn down by labour, and they are almost a specific for hide- 

 bound. Some farmers have thought so highly of lucern as to substitute it for oats. 

 This may be allowable for the agricultural horse of slow and not severe work, but he 

 from whom speedier action is sometimes required, and the horse of all work, must 

 have a propoition of hard meat within him. 



The Swedish Turnip is an article of food the value of which has not been suffi- 

 ciently appreciated, and particularly for agricultural horses. Although it is far from 

 containing the quantity of nutritive matter which has been supposed, that wiiich it 

 has seems to be capable of easy and complete digestion. It should be sliced with 

 chopped straw, and without hay. It quickly fattens the horse, and produces a smooth 

 glossy coat and a loose skin. It will be good practice to give it once in the day, and 

 that at night when the work is done. 



Carrots. — The virtues of this root are not sufficiently known, whether as contri- 

 buting to the strength and endurance of the sound horse, or the rapid recovery of the 

 sick one. To the healthy horse they should be given sliced in his chaffs. Half a 

 bushel will be a fair daily allowance. There is little provender of which the horse is 

 fonder. The following account of the value of the carrot is not exaggerated. " This 

 root is held in much esteem. There is none better, nor perhaps so good. When first 

 given it is slightly diuretic and laxative ; but as the horse becomes accustomed to it, 

 these effects cease to be produced. They also improve the state of the skin. They 

 form a good substitute for grass, and an excellent alterative for horses out of condi- 

 tion. To sick and idle horses they render corn unnecessary. They are beneficial in 

 all chronic diseases connected with breathing, and have a marked influence upon 

 chronii; cough and broken wind. They are serviceable in diseases of the skin, and 

 in combination with oats they restore a worn horse much sooner than oats alone."* 



Potatoes have been given, and with advantage, in their raw state, sliced with the 

 chaff ; but, where it has been convenient to boil or steam them, the benefit has been 

 far more evident. Purging has then rarely ensued. Some have given boiled potatoes 

 alone, and horses, instead of rejecting them, have soon preferred them even to the 

 oat ; but it is better to mix them with the usual manger feed, in the proportion of one 

 pound of potatoes to two and a half pounds of the other ingredients. The use of the 

 potato must depend on its cheapness, and the facility for boiling it. Half a dozen 

 horses would soon repay the expense of a steaming boiler in the saving of provender, 

 without taking into the account their improved condition and capability for work.f 

 A horse fed on potatoes should have his quantity of water materially curtailed. 



FuH7.E has sometimes been given during the winter months. There is considerable 

 trouble attending the preparation of it, although its plentifulness and little value for 

 other purposes would, on a large farm, well repay that trouble. The furze is cut 

 down at about three or four years' growth ; the green branches of that and the pre- 

 ceding year are bruised in a mill, and then given to the horses in the state in which 

 they come from the mill, or cut up with the chaff. Horses are verv fond of it. If 



* Stewart's Stable (Economy, p. 183. 



t Professor Low savs that 1^ lbs. of potatoes yield ns ninrh no^sirishnient as four pounds and 

 a half of oats. Von Thayer asserts that three bushels :ire equal to 112 lbs. of hay ; and Cur- 

 wen, who tried potatoes extensively in the feeding of horses, says that an acre goes as far a& 

 four acres of hay. 



