FEEDING. 247 



purposes, but I consider that the year's growth is quite fit 

 and wholesome in November. 



Clover hay — that is, first-crop clover — Is excellent for 

 mixing with upland ; it is largely interspersed with grass, 

 the stems are fine, and the leaves untinged by blackness, 

 the flowers, though dried and faded, are abundant through- 

 out it, and retain much of their original colour. Second- 

 crop clover is not nearly so desirable ; it may be known by 

 a coarse, strong flavour when put in the mouth, by the big 

 stems, the dingy appearance, and the noticeable blackness 

 of the leaves. 



I do not approve of giving too much hay of any kind to 

 horses ; a superabundance is apt to make them pot-bellied, 

 and unfit for hard work. Hunters, however, that get nothing 

 else for their mid-day meal, ought, when in the stable, to 

 be fed with sufficient quantity to make up for the absence 

 of more substantial food. 



Ready-cut chaff ought never to be purchased ; all sorts of 

 things find their way into it, just as is said to be the case 

 with cheap sausages ! 



Boiled barley is excellent food for horses. I have seen 

 some splendid youngsters that were fed on nothing else, 

 save the trifling addition of a very small portion of upland 

 hay. 



Gruel, if given, should be as carefully prepared as though 

 made for the human subject ; the neglect of this caution is 

 the cause of so many grooms thrusting heavy feeds before 

 exhausted horses, and averring that the animals " will not 

 drink gruel." No wonder that they reject it, when the 



