TChe Stable Handbook 



1. In a sample the grains should be about the 

 same size. 



2. They should be hard and dry, and fill out 

 their husk well. 



3. The skin should be thin and the kernel 

 hard. 



Oats should be almost without odour or taste ; 

 if they have an earthy odour they are new, if a 

 slightly bitter taste they are old. 



To look at, the oats should be clean, and, if new, 

 should be bright. Take them up in your hand, 

 and pour them out, and they should rattle like hard 

 peas. If you have a granary, and can have the 

 grain kept dry and free from mice, and are careful 

 to turn over new oats every ten days, that will be 

 found a considerable economy. You can then buy 

 oats newly thrashed, white or black does not much 

 matter, though I prefer white. But they must be 

 kept dry, and their chamber, of say 14X 14X lo, 

 should not rest on the ground, and should be 

 cemented inside with Roman cement or the mice 

 will certainly get in and your expense and labour 

 be wasted. But whether you buy old oats or new, 

 whether you have a year's supply or only a month 

 or two, it is still necessary to keep them in a clean 

 and mouse-proof store or bin. 



Having thus provided for the purchase and 



storage of oats and hay we have the two necessary 



requisites for feeding a horse. Everything else 



in the way of forage is additional, and the use of 



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