POTATOES.] 



MODEEN VETERIXARY PRACTICE. 



[bread. 



CARROTS. 



The virtues of this root are not sufTiciently 

 esteemed, adding to the strength and stamina 

 of the horse in health or in sickness. Some 

 farmers allow a bushel of sliced carrots a-day, 

 with chaff, without any oats ; and tlie horses 

 are said to be equal to all slow or agricultural 

 work. Stewart, in his Stable EcoJiomij, re- 

 marks, that "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 accus- 

 tomed 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 ex- 

 cellent alterative for horses out of condition. 

 To sick and idle horses they render corn un- 

 necessary. They are beneficial in all chronic 

 diseases connected with breathing, and have a 

 marked influence upon chronic cougb 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. 

 Potatoes have been sliced and given with ad- 

 vantage in their raw state, mixed with the 

 chaff; but, where there has been convenience 

 to boil or steam them, the benefit has been 

 much greater. Some have given boiled pota- 

 toes alone ; and horses, instead of turning from 

 them, have come to prefer them even to the 

 oat; but it is better to mix them with the 

 manger feed, in the proportion of one pound 

 of potatoes to two-and-a-half of the other in- 

 gredients. Professor Low says, that fifteen 

 pounds of potatoes yield as much nourishment 

 as four-and-a-half of oats. Von Thayer says, 

 that three bushels are equal to one hundred 

 and twelve pounds of hay ; and Curwen says, 

 that an acre of potatoes, in the feeding of 

 horses, goes as far as four acres of hay. In 

 feeding a horse on this root his water must be 

 much curtailed. 



BREAD FOR CATTLE AND HORSES. 



The French frequently feed their horses on 



bread ; and various other attempts at economy 



are practised out of the common management 



of feeding them wilh raw corn, which, no doubt, 



may bo beneficial. Wo have hoard of a team 

 of liorses, at Liverpool, to which boiled corn 

 was always given, and tho water boiled after- 

 wards to drink. This was said to nouritth thera 

 at much less expense than tlie common method 

 of feeding adopted. 



It is equally necessary to seek for economi- 

 cal food for cattle as for man. To lessen tho 

 consumption of food in rearing, preserving, and 

 maintaining the liealth and strength of cattle, 

 is to save so much for the benefit of mankind. 

 Many neglected plants, growing in marsliy 

 ground, the tender leaves of difl'erent trees de- 

 prived of their resin by infusion, chopped straw, 

 &c., are substances and resources which may be, 

 and are in many instances, usefully employed. 



In Sweden, oat bread is used for horses, and 

 is found much cheaper and more salutary than 

 the simple grain. It may be remarked that 

 horses always pass some parts of the oats they 

 have eaten, whole ; their stomachs labour much 

 to digest food, some part of which is entirely 

 lost, and is even dangerous to them. Oats 

 ground and baked would not occasion these 

 inconveniences. 



Experience has shown, that in Sweden, one 

 ton of oats makes four hundred and eighty 

 loaves, on which a horse may be better kept — 

 at the rate of two loaves a day — for two 

 hundred and forty days, than if he had had six 

 tons or even more of raw oats. The husk of 

 the oats remains mixed with the flour ; and the 

 weight of the water, a large quantity of which 

 is necessarily employed in making the dough, is 

 gained. It has also been calculated in Sweden, 

 that after all expenses have been taken into 

 consideration, a great saving is effected by 

 feeding horses on bread made of oats and rye. 

 There liay is never given without mixing it with 

 two-thirds of chopped straw, and adding to it 

 bread broken up. The better to preserve this 

 bread, it should be made in the shape of calces ; 

 and if it be prepared like biscuit, it will keep 

 for a lengthened period of time, without losing 

 its nutritive qualities. 



Good bread for cattle may be made from the 

 farinaceous parts of the horse-chestnut, acorns, 

 maudragora, dog's-grass, &c. These sub- 

 stances may be used in the composition of 

 bread for cattle, together with potatoes reduced 

 to powder. 



In all agricultural experiment-s, we must 



135 



