VAEIETY OF FOOD. 357 



heavy port. The light-waisted, delicate, finely organized 

 animal never eats or drinks too much, requiring manage- 

 ment to induce him to take more sustenance than he 

 otherwise would. The grain that ninety horses in every 

 hundred are fed with, when in training, is oats, and when 

 bran and corn are added, the variety is complete in a still 

 greater proportion. Oats are to the horse what bread is 

 to man, " the staff of life ;" though, I believe, other articles 

 of diet can be used advantageously. As I have remarked 

 before, oats have more husk than any other grain, causing 

 them to weigh less, according to the bulk, than any of 

 those in common cultivation. That this is an advantage, 

 in some cases, will be admitted, as when the stomach re- 

 quires more distension than the hay fed gives ; and should 

 we change a horse's feed from twelve quarts of oats a day 

 to half that amount of corn, wheat or barley, the change 

 would necessitate an increase in the quantity of hay used. 

 A majority of horses can be brought into good condition 

 by using oats alone, though I find that " order " is acquired 

 more readily, when I use other articles of food in combina- 

 tion with them. There is an improvement in the health 

 of man by using different kinds of aliment, and this rule 

 will also hold good in the management of horses fast 

 work requiring scrupulous care, neither to overload the 

 stomach, nor place articles in it that are not nutritious. 

 Thus we cannot avail ourselves of a change that might 

 ultimately benefit the health, if not compatible with these 

 considerations. This may appear paradoxical, yet it is 

 nevertheless true. What Leibig calls the " plastic elements 

 of nutrition," consisting of substances abounding in nitro- 

 gen, must be combined with a sufiicient quantity of carbon 

 one to form blood with the proper constituents to 

 promptly repair the daily waste of the tissues, and the other 

 to create heat and assist the respiration. There is nearly 

 as much nitrogen in oats as any other grain, being only 



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