374 AMERICAN AGRICULTURE. 



good constitution, if well treated, perform hard service till 

 thirty. 



Longevity of the liorse. Mr. Percival mentions one that 

 died at 62. Mr. Mauran of New-York, has a fine gig and 

 saddle horse, now in his 45th year, sound, spirited and play- 

 ful as a kitten. He is of a dark brown with a tanned nose. 

 We never yet saw a horse with a huff or bear muzzle, that 

 had not great endurance. American Eclipse is still success- 

 fully covering mares in Kentucky at the age of 31, the result 

 of late and light service till his sinews became fully matured. 

 We almost daily see a large, compact, flea-bitten horse, at 

 work, dragging a heavy load in a single cart, which was for- 

 merly used as one of Governor Maitland's coach horses, and 

 though now upwards of 30, is apparently as sound and vigor- 

 ous as an overtasked colt of seven or eight. 



FEEDING. The vigor and duration of the horse depend 

 much on proper feeding. Like the cow and sheep, he may 

 be made to subsist on animal food, fish and almost every spe- 

 cies of nutritious vegetable. But his natural and proper 

 aliment is the grasses, grain and roots. In the middle and 

 northern section of this country, his dry forage is almost 

 invariably good meadow hay, generally timothy, which is 

 the richest of the cultivated grasses. At the South, this is 

 often supplied by the blades of Indian corn. But in all the 

 states, a great variety of the grasses and clover are used. 

 When put to hard labor, grain ought always to accompany 

 hay in some form. Of the different kinds of grain, oats are 

 peculiarly the horse's food, and they are always safe, digesti- 

 ble and nutritive. Barley is the best sub^itute for it. W heat 

 and Indian corn are sometimes given, but both are unsuita- 

 ble; the first is too concentrated, and the last too heating. 

 They ought to be sparingly used, and only when ground. 

 The offal of wheat is never objectionable. Grain is always 

 more advantageously fed when ground or crushed, and wet 

 some time previous to eating ; and it is still better when 

 cooked. On both sides of the Mediterranean, in the Bar- 

 bary states, in Spain, France and Italy, much of the food is 

 given in small baked cakes, and the saving in this way is 

 much greater than the expense of preparing it. When con- 

 fined to dry food, roots or apples fed once a day, are always 

 beneficial. They keep the bowels open, the appetite and 

 general health good, and contribute largely to the nutriment 

 of the animal. Carrots are the best of the roots, as besides 

 giving muscle and working power, they more than any 



