FOOD; 185 



by the pressure of the thumb nail. Should that test not be perfectly 

 satisfactory, a convincing proof is soon obtained by placing the suspected 

 grain between the teeth. A sound oat should be dry and hard: it 

 should almost chip asunder, and not be torn or broken into pieces by 

 compression. In the autumn months, great care is needed to procure 

 sound corn; the non-professional purchaser is, perhaps, best protected, 

 when he deals for such an article With responsible trades-people, who, in 

 their business, have a character to sacrifice. 



ENGUSH FEED. 



It is a custom to expel the moisture from new grain by drying it in a 

 kiln. It is thereby, in some degree, improved ; but it cannot be said to 

 be rendered as wholesome as sound corn, hardened by the natural pro- 

 cess. Moreover, oats badly harvested or damaged by wet are frequently 

 placed in the kiln, where they are exposed to the sulphur, in order to 

 change or amend their color. The husks, however, at the conclusion of 

 the process, are seldom all of one tint. If closely examined, indications 

 of the original defect may be discovered on some grains, while others 

 will be of an unnatural whiteness. Kiln-dried oats sometimes betray a 

 shriveled aspect on that part which is near to the beard, such puckering 

 being occasioned by the sudden expulsion of much dampness from the 

 interior. The best test, however, is the rapid rubbing of the sample 

 between the palms of the heated hands; when, should sulphur have 

 been employed, its peculiar odor will be developed. 



The author has been thus careful in describing the signs which 

 declare the presence of sulphur, because that mineral, although much 

 employed by ordinary farriers, can occasion the most terrible belly-ache, 

 gripes, fret, or spasms. This affection is one of the most fearful to which 

 the horse is subject, and is the more to be dreaded, as it too often leads 

 to other complications. Perhaps a greater number of animals annually 

 perish through causes resulting from spasms, than die under any other 

 squine ailment. 



