PREPARATION OF FOOD. 115 



such a serious disadvantage that the application of these 

 processes to the preparation of the food of horses should, as 

 a rule, be restricted to the corn of sick horses or to that of 

 animals which need a change of diet. 



Steaming is manifestly less objectionable than boiling. 

 Either of these processes might be used with certain very 

 hard grains, such as kulthee (p. 170) ; but even in their case, 

 the necessity of employing moist heat does not appear to be 

 conclusively proved. The presence in oats of a cellulose 

 dissolving ferment (p. 68), shows that the application of a 

 temperature higher than 126 F. impairs the feeding value of 

 sound oats ; although heat, as in kiln-drying, might improve 

 the quality of musty oats by killing the mould germs. I 

 have found when feeding horses on barley in India, that 

 parching improves that grain as a food for these animals. 

 By the process of drying, it enables the digestive fluids to 

 more easily penetrate the grain. The application of artificial 

 dry heat, as in parching and baking, acts to a certain extent 

 like the natural process of ripening, in forming sugar. A 

 good instance of this is afforded by the sweetening effect 

 produced on sour apples by baking. 



My experience in countries where the soaking in water of 

 grain given as food for horses is generally adopted, has 

 convinced me that this practice is hurtful to digestion ; 

 because it not only saturates the grain with water, but 

 also facilitates the swallowing of the food before the grain 

 has been fully masticated. Gram in India and maize in 

 South Africa are the chief grains that are soaked in water 

 before being given to horses. Both are best prepared by 

 being broken and by being given dry with bran, chop, or, in 

 the case of maize, with the cob cut up. Bruising is specially 

 applicable to oats, as it increases the difficulty of swallowing 

 this grain without thorough mastication, and by breaking 

 its husk it exposes the interior of the grain to the full 



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