84 THE PRACTICAL HORSE KEEPER. 



this mixing a large iron tub or box (or if of wood it should be 

 lined throughout with sheet iron) at least one-third greater 

 than the bulk of the food to be mixed at one time ought to be 

 employed ; the different parts of the food are laid in this box 

 in alternate layers ; when all are* placed, they are then stirred 

 up by means of a light spade. 



Hay of good quality requires no further preparation than 

 chopping ; but for inferior hay, and especially if it be mouldy, 

 the process of steaming for fifteen or twenty minutes has been 

 recommended ; this steaming, though it does not improve the 

 nutritive qualities of the hay, renders it more palatable and 

 digestible, and destroys whatever noxious qualities it may 

 possess. 



Roots, as carrots, turnips, or parsnips, should be carefully 

 cleansed from earth and grit by washing ; and to prevent 

 choking, and render them more easily eaten, they should be cut 

 or sliced into small pieces. If boiled or steamed, this should 

 not be overdone, as horses relish them more when they are a 

 little hard. 



With regard to the propriety of boiling food, opinions differ 

 somewhat ; but for healthy horses, performing more than an 

 average amount of severe, and especially fast, work there can 

 be no doubt that unboiled grain, when of good quality, is better 

 than that which is boiled. For heavy, or draught horses, Reynolds 

 remarks that when hard or uncooked corn forms the ordinary 

 ration, a night feed two or three times a week of steamed 

 grain, mixed with bran, is an exceedingly good and agreeable 

 change. At periods of the year when the demands upon team 

 labour are moderate, the practice of steaming the corn is better 

 for the animals, and also more economical. With a view to 

 reducing the stimulating qualities of the diet, for horses doing 

 only half work or less, the practice is especially good. A bushel 

 of grain thus prepared will go as far in rendering the chop 

 palatable as three times the quantity given raw. For young 



