FOOD. 189 



field pea is open to the same condemnation ; but field peas are not gen- 

 erally employed in stables. Those used for horses are small and white, 

 of foreign growth, and quite unobjectionable. Tares are given only to 

 farm teams ; but .if this plant possesses only a tithe part of those virtues 

 for which it is accredited, its employment might be advantageously ex- 

 tended. Why should hay be made only of grass which, though admirable 

 sustenance for the bovine tribe, evidently is not equally suited to the 

 equine species ? The dropsy of the abdomen and legs it induces in nags, 

 together with the foulness of coat which it engenders, are perhaps the 

 best evidence of the injury that attends the long employment of green 

 grass, or even of hay, as a solitary sustenance. 



Might not beans, peas, and other leguminous substances be sown 

 broadcast, and mown when in flower ? Hay thus produced would be 

 of all value in the stable; because grass, like corn, whether exhibited 

 green or dry, simply induces fat ; whereas leguminous plants all favor 

 the development of muscular fiber or support the strength of the body. 

 Such hay might be charged a little higher ; but then its feeding value 

 and its worth as a promoter of condition would far more than recompense 

 any extra money at which it might be charged. 



It may be asked why, if hay produces fat, are the horses of the poor 

 so lamentably lean, since such quadrupeds receive little else than hay to 

 sustain them ? The reasons are numerous. The hay such horses obtain 

 is not often of a good quality; and it is to be feared the stuff is not, 

 frequently, presented in sufficient quantity to promote obesity. Besides, 

 this substance leaves the muscular power unrefreshed. The frame being 

 exhausted by a life passed in exertion, the body's weakness effectually 

 counteracts all tendency to fatten. 



A MAGNIFIED MUSTY OAT. 



Beans are not known to be much exposed to deterioration ; but oats 

 are liable to an affection of the epidermis or of the skin, which causes 

 them to be covered with little granules of a dark color, which the mi- 

 croscope discovers to be fungoid growths resembling a species of very 

 minute toadstools. Com, when in this condition, is readily recognized 

 by a very powerful musty smell ; and the grain, of course, is not adapted 



