28 THE HORSE 



three or four feet in height and grows luxuriantly. The 

 following resume of the various kinds of fodder employed 

 in the feeding of horses should prove of interest to 

 readers. 



Hay is divisible into Enghsh, Scottish, and Irish, but 

 Scottish and Enghsh are by far the best. Hay should be 

 at least one year old before it is used, have a pleasant and 

 fragrant odour, and contain such grasses as rye, Timothy, 

 crested dog's-tail, meadow fox-tail, and sweet-scented 

 vernal grass, as this grass is grown chiefly for the pleasant 

 odour which it confers on the hay crop. Samples of hay 

 vary remarkably in their quahty. Two other grasses, 

 viz. the meadow fescue and rough cock's-foot grass are 

 also contained in the best samples of hay. It should 

 neither be mow-burned or musty, but thousands of tons 

 of damaged hay must have been consumed by horses in 

 the army during the recent war. Nevertheless, no sane 

 person would ever wittingly purchase forage damaged in 

 the manner referred to. " Weathered hay," i.e. hay 

 which has been repeatedly soaked and dried loses much 

 of its value, and if hay of this kind is bought it can be 

 improved as forage for horses by mixing with it, in its 

 cut state, a small quantity of salt. The chief difference 

 between good hay and bad hay commonly results from 

 too little or too much heat being evolved in the stack. 

 Overheating hay to the extent of blackening or charring 

 it causes it to become sour, owing to the formation of 

 acetic acid. It requires about 388 lb. of grass to make 

 100 lb. of hay, the loss in weight being chiefly due to 

 water. The loss of nutritious ingredients is attributable 

 to the process of fermentation carried on in the stack. 

 The sugar has been largely converted into alcohol and 

 carbon dioxide, through which chemical change a certain 

 amount of waste must take place, but there is compensa- 

 tion in return, as the fermentation in the stack breaks 

 down the woody fibres of the grass stems. Horses should 

 be allowed from 5 to 20 lb. of hay per diem. 



