FEEDING. 



143 



Chapter X— Feeding. 



1 il{ chief t'urms of life are ani- 

 f?^^ mal. plant and mineral. The 

 chief f o o (1 of animals are 

 plants, and the chief food of 

 plants are mineral,^. Plants in 

 i^rowing absorb certain ele- 

 ments from the ground and air. 

 Animals in eating' absorb certain elements from 

 these plants. The refuse of animals goes back to 

 earth and aids the growth of new animal food. 



A detailed study of the cjuestion of feeds and 

 feeding would recjuire a large sized volume in it- 

 self. We will mention only the important fea- 

 tures. Introductory to our main subject we will 

 insert a few brief ])aragraphs, more or less dis- 

 connected, relating to the physiology of horses. 



Colin estimates that a horse requires 1^4 hours 

 to masticate 4 pounds of dry hay during which 

 period saliva is poured out at the rate of from 

 II to 13 pounds per hour. He states that if the 

 food of a horse for one day amounts to 1 1 pounds 

 of hay and 11 pounds of other dry fodder thi^ 

 will re(|uire four times its weight of saliva, or 88 

 pounds. Saliva consists of 992 parts water out 

 of 1. 000. 



