128 Farm Horses. 



and beans are properly ground with it, yielding more 

 nourishment. The advantage derived from using a cer- 

 tain portion of straw cut up with the hay is very great, 

 especially in farm establishments. 



Good hay, perhaps, stands first in importance on the 

 list of horse food. Great care ought to be used during 

 hay harvest to get hay as full of the herb and flower as 

 possible ; inferior hay produces colic and irritable coughs, 

 both of which I have seen gradually disappear by with- 

 holding the moulded hay on which the horses were feed- 

 ing. The same remarks apply strictly to oats of inferior 

 quality, with this exception, that bad oats appear to become 

 a powerful diuretic, acting upon the kidneys, producing an 

 immense increase in their secretions, the effects of which 

 are rapid loss of condition, with great debility. It may 

 not be out of place to notice the practice of wheat feed- 

 ing, particularly when inferior wheat has been so plentiful. 



What we have to say of inferior wheat also strongly 

 applies to inferior barley, and all other kinds of inferior 

 grain and cereals. It is a mistake to suppose that any 

 method of cooking or mixing will render these more 

 digestible or nutritious. They are inferior in point of 

 nutrition, and should not be used for the support of 

 working horses. An idea also prevails that good wheat 

 and barley are very difficult of digestion, and liable to 

 produce serious obstructions. This usually happens 

 when horses help themselves from the barn floor, and the 

 safe precaution against the evil is to keep the doors safely 

 closed. When wheat or barley is supplied as daily food, 

 proper quantities should be given, and these always mixed 

 with a due proportion of bran and sound chaff. 



In the present system of feeding, some farmers appear 

 almost compelled to give their horses straw during winter, 

 generally when the animals are off work ; but as straw 

 requires more exercise to produce digestion, it ought to 

 be given (if at all, alone) when the animal is at work, as 

 horses with voracious appetites and little work have time 

 to eat a great deal more than the digestive organs can 

 accommodate. It is an indisputable fact that there are 

 more cases of colic during Sunday night and Monday 



