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easily digested. Many greedy horses will bolt their 

 oats whole, consequently, when they are improperly 

 masticated, they do them very little good. This is 

 soon discovered by the quantities of whole oats which 

 are to be found in their excrement. A little chaff 

 mixed with the oats is a good preventive when crush- 

 ing is inconvenient. It prevents horses bolting the 

 corn whole, and induces them, more or less, to 

 chew it. With all classes of horses used for slow 

 work it is advantageous to chop the hay by means 

 of a hay -cutter. This system of manger feeding is 

 very general among collieries, and is also being 

 adopted on farms to a very large extent. A great 

 saving of hay is effected and the expense of feeding 

 is correspondingly reduced. When hay is scarce 

 and dear, oat straw may be mixed with the hay in 

 about equal quantities. This makes a capital feed, 

 and horses are generally very fond of it. 



WATER. 



The importance of a good supply of pure water 

 can scarcely be over-estimated, and, if possible, it is 

 preferable to have it soft rather than hard. When 

 a horse is in health he should be allowed as much 

 water as he cares to drink, with one exception. The 

 exception is when he is brought in from a journey 

 tired and heated. In such circumstances he should 

 only be given eight or ten mouthfuls of water, and it 

 is safe to raise its temperature to sixty-five or seventy 

 deg. Fahr., simply by adding a little hot water. After 



