FEEDING. 77 



Yet, with all these discrepancies in the value of oats, they 

 are still fed, not by the pound, but by the quart. Thus 

 we see some horses kept in good working condition by 

 feeding oats to them, but the major part demand an addi- 

 tion of Indian corn to supply the wear and tear of the 

 system under ordinary work, and for this purpose some 

 horsemen add one bushel of corn to four of oats. 



It is the conviction of many who own a number of horses 

 kept for work, that oats are deceptive, and not sufficient as 

 a feed, with the usual allowance of hay combined. So 

 extensively is this opinion held, that scarcely a hard work- 

 ing horse can be found that is now fed exclusively on oats 

 and hay. The poverty of the oats in general is such that 

 few horses can consume enough of them to supply the sys- 

 tem with nourishment commensurate with the work per- 

 formed. We know of carriage horses not even in daily 

 use and which when in harness are not taken out of the 

 city, but merely used for shopping and visiting purposes, 

 which require, to keep them in something like respectable 

 condition in flesh, about twenty-four quarts in the day, 

 together with sixteen pounds of timothy hay, and occa 

 sionally a mixture of bran in addition. Yet with all this, 

 they are not in better order than animals fed on corn-meal 

 and cut hay, and morever are not able to go faster or do 

 harder work than those horses fed on corn-meal and cut 

 hay. We are aware that these facts can never be recon- 

 ciled with the theory of the chemist and the prejudices of 

 the stablemen ; nevertheless where such conflict occurs, as 



