no THE HORSE 



quantity of inferior grasses, may be of better feed- 

 ing value than that made from herbage of the 

 finest quality. Experiments have proved that hay 

 made from grass cut early ^vill fat a bullock alone, 

 while hay from similar land cut late has proved 

 quite incapable of doing this without the addition 

 of cake, etc. Furthermore, the way hay was saved 

 may make an appreciable difference in its feeding 

 value, apart from the actual quality of the herbage. 

 Grass may be cut early when all the grasses are 

 in flower, and yet, owing to bad weather, it 

 may have required so much tossing and turning, 

 and have lain about so long, that by the tune it 

 gets to the rick all the sugar will have been washed 

 out of it and its value thus reduced. The careful 

 modern farmer turns and tosses his hay as little as 

 possible, for he knows that the better will the feed- 

 ing value be. The old method of tossing hay ydth 

 a pitchfork is quite obsolete, and a careful turning 

 over with a hand-rake is the most that is required 

 in a favorable season. 



Mow-burned hay may be recognized by its strong 

 smell and dark color. The condition is due to 

 heating in the stack, and although horses are fond 

 of it, it is apt to act deleteriously on the kidneys if 

 given to them in any quantity. 



