40 HOESE MANAGEMENT IN INDIA. 



greatly increase its food value when given with grain ; 

 apparently, on account of the " chaff" facilitating the 

 more thorough mastication of the corn by separating 

 the grains or particles of the corn one from another, and 

 by more evenly distributing the pressure of the teeth 

 on them. We may readily see that for the performance 

 of this work, it is better to have the different pieces of 

 chaff soft than hard ; although the softness should be 

 obtained by bruising or tearing, and not by the appli- 

 cation of moisture. In Egypt, Syria, Arabia, and other 

 Asiatic countries, the chaff is formed from wheat or 

 barley straw, which is broken up into small pieces and 

 is thoroughly bruised by the native threshing machine 

 (Arabic, noraj), and is then called tibben. A mixture 

 of barley and tibben forms the staple food of vast 

 numbers of Eastern horses, which, except on rare occa- 

 sions, get no other forage, and which keep in excellent 

 condition on it. Horses would not thrive as well on 

 ordinary chopped straw, thus given, as on tibben. A 

 similar practice is carried on in South Africa, where 

 the chaff is made principally from wheat straw, which 

 is bruised and broken up into small pieces daring the 

 process of threshing, which is performed by horses and 

 mules trampling upon the stalks of corn. In places 

 where this bruised chaff could not be obtained, it would 

 be very useful to have a special machine which could 

 bruise and break up the straw in this manner, were it 

 desired to use straw as a food for horses. 



Oat Hay and Wheat Hay. Oat hay is largely 

 used in the Australasian Colonies and in South Africa, 

 where it is called " forage," either as an addition to, 

 or as a substitute for, ordinary hay or grass. The oats 



