38 OATS. 



bj their thinness of husk, their comparative weight, the clean 

 colour of the outer husk, their dryness, and freedom from dust, 

 and sweetness of smell. Bad oats, if given to horses, will 

 prove injurious in many ways; being productive of diabetes? 

 unsoundness of wind, and general debility. They are known 

 by their lightness, and dullness of colour, their peculiar soft, 

 damp feel, and their musty smell. 



The quantity of oats daily necessary to a horse, will 

 depend upon circumstances. Some horses will perform a 

 greater amount of labour than others with one-third less corn. 

 Horses that eat inordinately are not always the best to get 

 through work. Horses severely laboured require a liberal 

 allowance of corn. They should at least have from thirteen to 

 fifteen pounds weight of corn per diem. Cab horses in well- 

 regulated establishments are each allowed from fifteen to 

 eighteen pounds daily. Hunters in full work should average 

 about the same, including beans. The oats given to hunters 

 are usually supplied in a quartern measure. A quartern of 

 oats will weigh about two pounds and three-quarters. Tour 

 quarterns, and frequently five, are given to each horse daily ; 

 and with every feed, a double handful of split beans. Taking 

 the four feeds of oats to weigh eleven pounds, and the beans 

 as three, it gives a daily average of fourteen pounds of corn. 

 The extra quartern making up the weight a little over seventeen 

 pounds, including the beans. This qtiantity of corn, let it be 

 understood however, is not necessary except for the larger 

 sized and most severely laboured hunters and harness horses. 

 When the labour is easy, or the journeys do not average more 

 than some eight or ten miles a day, it is desirable to regulate 

 the quantity of corn accordingly. 



By careful management, a horse under the circumstances 

 described, may be kept upon very little comparatively speaking, 



