104 Live Stock. 



and cutting chaff; and for some time, he found considerable 

 advantage from the practice, though beans had gradually 

 risen in price from L.3, 10s. to L.Gper quarter. Even at that 

 price, however, he found it of advantage, to use old beans mix- 

 ed with new oats and chaff, in the following manner : Having 

 harvested well a considerable quantity of oats, it occurred 

 to him, that it would be of use, instead of thrashing the 

 corn, to cut the oats and straw together into chaff; and he 

 found, that half a bushel of oat chaff, with a mixture of corn, 

 half a peck of crushed old beans, and half a peck of new 

 oats, was not only healthful to the horse, but sufficiently 

 nourishing, to enable him to go through the severest labour, 

 without being injured by it. 



The public advantages to be derived from this practice, 

 in addition to a diminution of expense, are of the highest 

 importance. 1. The expense of feeding horses, may thus 

 be considerably reduced. 2. It appears, that even the 

 hardest working horses, may thus be fed, without hay, which 

 will render it unnecessary to keep such extensive and most 

 valuable tracts of land, in a state of permanent meadow, when 

 its produce can be so much increased by the use of the 

 plough ; and, 3. As beans can be used, in nearly the same 

 proportion as oats, it will be quite unnecessary in future, to 

 import such enormous quantities of oats ; and the beans re- 

 quired can, in many cases, be raised on land, now appro- 

 priated to summer fallow ; a practice, which, when beans 

 are drilled, need only be adopted every sixth^ instead of 

 every third year, and, in the opinion of some, still less fre- 

 quently. 



2. An eminent coach-master in Lancashire, (Mr Brother- 

 ton of Rainhill), who kept from 70 to 100 horses for draw- 

 ing stage-coaches, likewise favoured me with some impor- 

 tant information regarding his cheap improved mode of feed- 

 ing horses. 



He had been accustomed, from 1802 to November 1811, 

 to allow 8 horses, every 24 hours, three Winchester bushels 

 of oats, and one bushel of beans, but no hay or chaff. Du- 

 ring that time he lost a great number of horses every year, 

 to the amount of from 14 to 17 on an average, which he at- 

 tributes to his having given them too much corn, and more 

 than the stomach could digest. This led him to try a small 

 proportion of hay, and he afterwards adopted the following 

 plan : 



To every 8 horses he allowed one bushel of oats, one 

 bushel of beans, and three bushels of cut hay and straw or 



