460 THE COMPLETE GRAZIER. BOOK in. 



land unevenly, and in the course of time injure the pasture. For a 

 two-year old on pasture five or six pounds of oats a day are a cheap 

 supplemental feed. 



On tillage farms work horses should never be turned out to grass ; 

 they should be fed on boiled corn, roots, and chaff in the winter, and 

 on cut rye, tares, and rye grass during the summer. The usual weekly 

 allowance for an ordinary- sized farm-horse is two bushels of corn a 

 week, in conjunction with hay-chaff. I know of no country where the 

 farm-horses work harder and look better than they do in the south- 

 west of Scotland, though I think the large quantities of hot boiled 

 food they receive tend to shorten their lives. 



The LABOUR performed by farm-horses is a consideration of equal 

 importance with their food ; but the subject is not so generally under- 

 stood, for the power of the horse is commonly ascribed wholly to 

 his strength, whereas it consists, at least equally, in his action. In 

 this lies the chief superiority of the active Suffolk Punch, or the 

 Cleveland Bay, over the heavier but more slowly moving Clydesdale 

 or Shire. The operation of ploughing is usually performed at so 

 slow a pace that it is thought of no consequence that the cattle should 

 be able to step more briskly. In heavy soils, where the plough works 

 with difficulty, such reasoning may be just ; but it is obvious that the 

 quicker a horse steps, the more ground he will cover within a given 

 time, and therefore action is material on lighter land, where the 

 resistance is less. 



Another argument used against quicker motion is, that if the horses 

 stepped faster, the ploughman could not keep pace with them ; but the 

 fallacy of this will be apparent when it is considered that the average 

 day's ploughing, on medium soils, and working nine hours, does not 

 exceed a statute acre ; which, assuming a common furrow-slice of nine 

 inches wide, will only amount to eleven miles, and allowing another 

 mile for the turnings, to a mile and one-third per hour ; whereas, if 

 the plough is not much impeded, either by the tenacit}" of the soil, or 

 stones, or other unusual obstacles, a good workman will find no great 

 difficult}' in following it at almost double that rate. It may, indeed, 

 be doubted whether either man or horse could constantly sustain such 

 labour ; and on that ground the value of quick action might be again 

 questioned, but the advantage of being able to perform it on pressing 

 occasions cannot be denied ; and even supposing only one acre to be 

 ploughed, it must be admitted that both the man and the horse would 

 be benefited by completing their task within half the usual time. 



The following has been ascertained to be the quantity of land actually 

 ploughed, and the ground gone over, by a team, in nine hours, walking 

 at the rates indicated per hour, and turning the different furrow-slices, 

 as specified : 



At 1J mile per hour. At 2 miles per hour. 



A. E. P. A. R. P. 



{8 IN. 3 36 . . 1 1 7 



9 ,, 1 14 . . 1 1 33 



10 ,, 1 35 . . 1 2 21 



11 1 1 14 . . 1 3 5 



