FOOD. 33 



it gets ripe, and the straw woody and hard, it is very- 

 indigestible, and a common cause of intestinal ob- 

 struction and colic. In some parts green barley is 

 given in the same manner, and when it is young it 

 is as good as wheat or oats ; but when it begins to 

 ripen it should be stopped, as the awns or beards 

 begin to get hard, and not only are they likely to 

 choke the horse, but to cause dangerous intestinal 

 obstruction. Oats can be given much longer than 

 barley or wheat; in fact, as I have said, ripe oats 

 are cut in the straw, and used as hay in many 

 parts of the world. The green crop must be pur- 

 chased standing from a cultivator, and this is best 

 arranged through your head " syce." It is sold by 

 measurement, a patch in the field being marked 

 out; or else the grass-cutters go and cut as much 

 as is required daily, the whole amount used being 

 afterwards measured up and paid for at the fixed 

 bazaar rate, or, as it is termed, the '' nirrick." 



Green Gram. 



Natives are very fond of giving horses green gram, 

 but it is a most dangerous custom. It is most indi- 

 gestible, the stalk when green being full of a strong 

 tough fibre. The sap and leaves have a peculiar 

 irritating or almost corrosive property, and in the 



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