8 The Care of Animals 



as then he is less likely to gorge himself on the new 

 diet. Fresh grass usually acts very beneficially on 

 an animal, improving the tone of the whole system. 

 A variety of foods generally gives the best results. 

 Animals at severe work rarely keep up in flesh if fed 

 chiefly on green succulent food. Palatability of food, — 

 that is, agreeable taste, — is also verj^ important. 



Common. salt is essential to practically all domestic 

 animals, and it should be given to them frequently. 

 If animals are allowed free access to salt they eat 

 only what nature requires ; but to animals not ac- 

 customed to it, salt must be supplied very gradually, 

 or they will eat too much at first and are likely to 

 be overtaken by indigestion or even death. Sheep 

 are sometimes poisoned by eating too much salt when 

 they are not accustomed to it. Fine or rock salt may 

 be used. Every good farmer knows that he must salt 

 his sheep often (Fig. 3).. 



"Bolting" the food, or gulping it rapidly and 

 without sufficient mastication, is alwa3-s injurious to 

 animals. Some horses acquire this as a habit, and it is 

 hard to overcome. One of the best methods of prevent- 

 ing it is to spread the grain over a large area, as on 

 the bottom of a manger, so that the horse cannot 

 easily obtain large mouthfuls. There are iron feed- 

 boxes, divided into small compartments, that accom- 

 plish the same results. Smooth round stones, the 

 size of a man's fist, can be placed in the ordinary 

 feed -box, so that the horse is required to nose them 

 over in order to get the grain. Animals that bolt 

 their food should be given ground feed. 



