252 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 188. 



Hominy meal or crushed barley may be fed in place of one-half of the 

 cracked or whole corn if desired. Molasses may constitute 10 per cent, 

 of the grain mixture. It may be diluted somewhat with water and mixed 

 with the grain. It aids in preventing colic. Inferior hay — weedy or 

 moldy — 'and musty grain are to be avoided as causes of digestion dis- 

 turbances. 



A. Alfalfa for Horses. 



The Kansas Experiment Station,^ co-operating with the United States 

 Department of Agriculture, conducted a series of experiments in the feeding 

 of work horses, using the artillery horses at Fort Riley (937 in all), with 

 an average weight of 1,165 pounds. The work performed was called rapid 

 light draft, and consisted of marching and drilling, drawing heavy wagons 

 and guns often at a trot or gallop. Among the many rations tried was one 

 composed, on the basis of 1,000 pounds of live weight, of 6.8 pounds of 

 corn, 1.7 pounds of oats and 8.5 pounds of alfalfa hay, which contained, 

 according to calculations made by the experimenters, the following di- 

 gestible nutrients: — 



1 



The alfalfa experiment was conducted with 17 horses for one hundred 

 and forty days, and during the test the horses showed an average gain of 

 25.6 pounds per head. It was stated that they showed no signs of short- 

 ness of wind, softness, lack of endurance, laxative effect or excessive 

 urination. The amount of grain was reduced 19 per cent, and the 

 amount of hay 30 per cent, from that consumed in a check ration of 

 prairie hay and oats. The observers explain the satisfactory results on 

 the ground that a small amount of alfalfa hay was fed with a relatively 

 large amount of corn, a combination requiring a minimum amount of 

 energy for its digestion. 



The 1,000-pound horse, working eight hours daily, requires, according 

 to Armsby et als.,"^ 2 pounds of digestible crude protein and 18.2 therms of 

 net energy. The horses in the Kansas alfalfa ration received 1.67 pounds 

 of digestible crude protein and 13.41 therms of net energy. 



On the basis of digestible matter the following comparison can be made 

 of nutrients required per 1,000 pounds' live weight for medium to hard 

 work: — 



1 Bui. No. 186. 



» The Nutrition of Farm Animals, p. 7H. 



