354 THE HORSE. 



after he has eaten his corn, two or three hours to clear his rack. On the 

 system of manger-feeding-, the chaff bein^i: already cut into small pieces, 

 and the beans and oats bruised, he is able fully to satisfy his appetite in an 

 hour and a half. Two additional hours are therefore devoted to rest. 

 This is a circumstance deservinfr of much consideration even in the farmer's 

 stable, and of immense consequence to the postmaster, the stagecoach 

 proprietor, and the owner of every hard-worked horse. 



Manger food will be the usual support of the farmer's horse during the 

 winter, and while at constant or occasional hard work ; but from the middle 

 or end of April to the end of July, he may be fed with this mixture in 

 the day, and turned out at night, or he may remain out during every rest 

 day : a team in constant employ should not, however, be suffered to be 

 out at night, after the end of July. 



The farmer should take care that the pasture is thick and good ; and that 

 the distance from the yard is not too great, nor the fields too large, other- 

 wise a very considerable portion of time will be occupied in catching the 

 horses in the morning. He will likewise have to take into consideration 

 the sale he would have for his hay, and the necessity for sweet and 

 untrodden pasture for his cattle. On the whole, however, turning out in 

 this way, when circumstances will admit of it, will be found to be mora 

 beneficial for the horse, and cheaper than soiling in the yard. 



The small farmer's horse is sometimes fed on hay or grass alone, and 

 the animal, although he rarely gets a feed of corn, maintains himself in 

 tolerable condition, and does the work that is required of him ; but hay 

 and grass alone, however good in quality, or in whatever quantity admi- 

 nistered, will not support the horse under hard work ; and therefore other 

 substances, containing a larger proportion of nutriment in a smaller com- 

 pass, have been added. We will briefly enumerate them, and consider 

 their comparative value. In almost every part of Great Britain, the Oat 

 has been selected as that portion of the food which is to afford the prin- 

 cipal nourishment. It contains seven hundred and forty-three parts out of 

 a thousand of nutritive matter. The oat should be old, heavy, dry, and 

 sweet. The new oat will weigh ten or fifteen per cent, more than the old 

 oat ; but the difference consists principally in watery matter, which is gra- 

 dually evaporated. The new oat is not so readily ground down by the 

 teeth as the old one, and forms a more glutinous mass, difficult to digest, 

 and, when eaten in considerable quantities, is apt to occasion colic and 

 even stags^ers. The old oat forms, when chewed, a smooth and uniform 

 mass, which readily dissolves in the stomach, and yields the nourishment 

 which it contains, and perhaps some chemical change may have been 

 slowly effected in the old oat, disposing it to be more readily assimilated. 

 Oats should be plump, bright in colour, and free from unpleasant smell 

 or taste. The musty smell of wetted or damaged corn is caused by a 

 fungus which grows upon the seed, and which has an injurious effect on 

 the urinary organs, and often on the intestines, producing profuse staling, 

 inflammation of the kidney or colic, and inflammation of the bowels. 



This musty smell is removed by kiln-drying the oat, but care is here 

 requisite that too great a degree of heat is not employed. It should be 

 sufficient to destroy the fungus without injuring the life of the seed. 

 The kiln-burnt oat, however, is not so grateful to the animal : it acquires a 

 heating quality — causes increased discharge of urine, and not unfrequently 

 produces inflammation of the eyes, and mangy affections of the skin. 



Of the quantity of oats in the chaff we have already spoken. An im- 

 provement would be effected, by cutting the unthreshed oat straw into 

 chaff. The expense of threshing would be saved. Oat straw Js^better 



