TEAM. 



cultivation, there will be a saving of 

 *>ii;iU »iullin;,'s |)or acre, probably ball' 

 tlie rent, and iiuire tiian halCtiie prof- 

 it. However tins may be, there is no 

 doubt that it is of great importance 

 to ascertain wiiat is, on the whole, 

 liie best and cheapest mode of feed- 

 ing farm horses ; and without enter- 

 ing into mmute calculations, it will 

 be found that various arlilicial grass- 

 es may be made to succeed each 

 other by successive sowings so reg- 

 ularly that the horses shail be kept 

 for six months of the year entirely 

 on succulent green food, which will 

 enal)le them to do all tlie necessary 

 work, and keep them in good health 

 and condition. Thus, with the help 

 of carrots, potatoes, and ruta baga, 

 a great saving of hay and oats may 

 be effected in winter, and these crops 

 will take up much less land for their 

 production than hay and oats, and 

 exhaust the soil less, if we e.\cept 

 potatoes, which are more profitably 

 used as human food, or to fatten pigs. 

 " The example of tradesmen and 

 manufacturers who keep horses, and 

 cut all the hay which they use into 

 chaff, mixing it with oats, may be 

 good for a farmer to follow where 

 hay is scarce and beans a good price, i 

 but otherwise it is fully as economi- | 

 cal to give the hay in racks, provided 

 no more be given at once than a horse 

 will eat up entirely, and a certain ra- 

 tion he allowed for each horse, which 

 experience has shown to be sufficient. 

 In the cavalry, whore great atten- 

 tion is paid to economy, the horses 

 have their rations of hay, oats, and 

 straw, according to the exercise they 

 take, or the fatigue they are exposed 

 to ; so likewise it should be with a 

 farmer's team. In the old mode of 

 feeding horses with as much hay as 

 they would eat, and two bushels of 

 oats for each horse per week, during 

 at least nine months in the year, and 

 giving them tares or artificial grasses 

 hetween spring sowing and harvest, 

 when there was less to be done, the 

 expense of a horse was much greater 

 than most farmers could now afford, 

 and more land was devoted to the 

 keep of the team than was necessary. 

 788 



i " It is of great importance to a per 

 son about to manage a farm to know 

 exactly what number of horses will 

 be required for its proper cultivation ; 

 and this depends upon many circum- 

 stances, which must all be taken into 

 I consideration, and which will make 

 a very materia! dilference, often as 

 much as half the rent of the land. 

 He is to consider the situation of the 

 j farm buildings, especially the stalls 

 ! and cattle-yards, where the manure 

 is to be made, with respect to their 

 distance from the fields ; the stale ol 

 the roads and the access to the fields , 

 the distance of a good market-town, 

 and whether the fields lie in a ring, 

 fence or are scattered. A farm o) 

 good light loam will require one 

 horse for every twenty-five acres for 

 Its cultivation, with an additional one 

 for every two hundred acres; that 

 is, nine horses for two hundred acres. 

 The additional horse should be light- 

 er and more active than the rest, for 

 the farmer to ride on and to drive in 

 a light cart ; yet it should be capable 

 of supplying the place of any of the 

 others in case of illne.ss or accident, 

 or when extra work is required, as 

 in harvest or seed time. The larger 

 the farm, or rather the fields, the 

 fewer horses are required in propor- 

 tion to its size, because much time is 

 lost in turning the plough where the 

 furrow is short; and ploughing is al- 

 ways the principal work of the team. 

 If more than two horses are requi- 

 red to plough the ground, the soil 

 must be very compact and heavy ; 

 and if this is not compensated by 

 greater fertility, the expense of the 

 horses will much reduce the profit of 

 the farmer. It is the custom in 

 some farms for each ploughman to 

 have the charge of his own horses ; 

 but it is far better to make the feed- 

 ing and cleaning of horses the busi- 

 ness of regular servants, who should 

 sleep in or near the stables, and rise 

 very early, so that the horses maybe 

 fed and ready to go to work as soon 

 as tlie ploughman comes. When a 

 man has been eight or ten hours 

 liolding a plough, he is not so capable 

 of cleaning and rubbing the horses as 



