FEEDING. 115 



quantity are apt to cause flatulency and derangement of the 

 stomach and bowels. The same may be said of corn. If not 

 sound and dry, it may be regarded even much more dan- 

 gerous than oats, and should not be fed. Doing so will be 

 at the hazard of the consequences above mentioned. 



The quantity of oats given daily may vary from eight to 

 sixteen quarts. If the horse is large, and the work is severe, 

 a little more may be given. Corn should be fed in the ear, 

 and like oats must be regulated in quantity to the size and 

 labor of the animal ; from five to twelve good sized ears are 

 a feed. I give a larger proportion of feed at night, and less 

 in the morning and noon. There is ample time for diges- 

 tion during the night. There is not during the day, if the 

 labor is severe. Experience proves that some mildly cooling 

 laxative food should be occasionally given. A bran mash, 

 made by pouring boiling water on eight or ten quarts of 

 wheat bran, covered over until cool and fed at night, from 

 once to three times a week, is the finest and best. 



Carrots are a good laxative and alterative before frost, 

 but are too cold and constipating during cold weather. They 

 may be fed in October, November and December, but in 

 the Northern States not later. (I am governed by the 

 judgment of one of the best veterinary surgeons in the 

 United States, based upon careful and critical observation 

 of effects on a large number of horses, on this point.) I 

 feed Irish potatoes, from one to three quarts, with the usual 

 quantity of grain, from two to three or four times a week, 

 and would recommend their use. Think their value cannot 

 be over-estimated. Feeding a small quantity of roots and 

 giving bran mashes, keeps the bowels open and the system 

 in a uniform, healthy condition. Without them constipa- 

 tion is probable, and this is one of the primary causes of 

 diarrhoea, colic, or inflammation of the bowels. If it is 

 desired to make a horse fat in a short time, feed corn meal 

 and shorts, with cut straw, to which add a pint of cheap 

 molasses. Nothing like this for recruiting and filling up a 

 horse that is out of sorts or poor. If the horse eats too fast, 

 put a few round stones in the feed box. He must now pick 

 the food from among the stones, and thus he is compelled 

 to eat slowly. 



If the horse is exhausted, or when sufficient time cannot 

 be allowed for him to eat and partially digest a full meal. 



