FOOD. 135 



draught. It is essential that they should be crushed ; other-wnsc, on ac- 

 count of theii' globular form, they are apt to escaj)e from the teeth, and 

 many are swallowed whole. Exposed to warmth and moisture in the 

 stomach, they swell considerably, and may painfully and injuriously dis- 

 tend it. The peas that are given to horses should be sound, and at least 

 a twelvemonth old. 



In some northern countries pea-meal is frequently used, not only as an 

 excellent food for the horse, but as a remedy for diabetes. 



Linseed is sometimes given to sick horses — raw, ground, and boiled. 

 It is supposed to be useful in cases of catarrh. Mr. Black, veterinary 

 surgeon of the 14th Dragoons, says, that sugar was tried as an article of 

 food during the Peninsular War. Ten horses were selected, each of which 

 got 8 lbs. a day at four rations. They took it very readily, and their coats 

 became fine, smooth, and glossy. They got no corn, and only 7 lbs. of 

 ha}', instead of the ordinary allowance, which is 12 lbs. 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 sugar for corn desirable ceased, and the horses returned to their 

 usual diet. That the sugar might not be appropriated to other purposes 

 it was slightly scented with assafoetida, which did not produce any ap- 

 parent effect upon them. 



Herbage, green and diy, constitutes a principal part of the food of the 

 horse. There are few things A\dth regard to which the farmer is so care- 

 less as the mixture of grasses on both his upland and meadow pasture. 

 Hence we find, in the same field, the ray -grass, coming to perfection only 

 in a loamy soil, not fit to cut until the middle or latter part of July, and 

 yielding little afterma,th ; 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 deteriorating 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 

 meantime, Sinclair's account of the different grasses, or the condensation 

 of the most important part of his work in Sir Humphry Davy's Agricul- 

 tui'al Chemistry, or Low's Elements of Practical Agricultu.re, 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 nutritive, and often has a purgative quality. When it is about a year 

 old, it retains, or should retain, somewhat of its green colour, its agreeable, 

 smell, and its pleasant taste. It has undergone the slow process of fer- 

 mentation, by which the sugar which it contains is developed, and its 

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

 and innutritive and unwholesome. After the grass is cut, and the hay 

 stacked, a sKght degree of fermentation takes place in it. This is neces- 

 sary for the development of the saccharine principle ; but occasionally it 

 proceeds too far and the hay becomes mowhttriif, in Avhich state it is injuri- 

 ous, 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 

 that generally of the worst kind. If the manger-system is good, there can 

 be no necessity for hay, 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 



