Feeds for the Horse. 283 



such fodder. . . . The feeding of chopped fodder has brought about 

 a considerable saving and permitted greater uniformity than was 

 previously the case in our experiments." On the other hand, having 

 in mind farm horses, Lindsey of the ^Massachusetts Station^ holds 

 that there is no particular advantage in cutting hay. (340) 



448. Cooked feed. — The custom of cooking even a small portion 

 of the feed given to horses is gradually falling into disuse. John- 

 stone,- who had the practice thoroly ingrained into his nature by his 

 early Scotch experience, out of his later studies and observations 

 writes: "Time was when I considered the feeding of sloppy stuff 

 a necessity in properly wintering brood mares, but experience has 

 shown me that dry food is best. Therefore I prefer uncooked 

 food. . . . Time was when I believed that for stallions during the 

 season it was an excellent plan to give a mash of boiled barley every 

 Wednesday and Saturday night. . . . The experiments have, how- 

 ever, shown that the addition of this material to a horse's grain 

 ration makes no appreciable difference in the manner in which the 

 grain is digested." (334-8) 



449. Soaked grain.— AVolff^ found that healthy horses with good 

 teeth utilized beans and corn equally w^ell whether fed whole and 

 dry or after having been soaked in water for 24 hours, care being 

 taken in the latter case to guard against loss of nutrients. Ear corn 

 that is so dry and flinty as to injure the horse's mouth should be 

 soaked or ground. Whole wheat and barley should always be 

 soaked if they cannot be ground or, better, rolled. (339) 



450. Ground grain. — From his extensive studies with thousands 

 of cab, omnibus, and army horses in France, Lavalard* gives the fol- 

 lowing helpful counsel : ' ' Contrary to the opinion of some experts, 

 the writer believes it is not necessary to grind grain for horses. This 

 is especially true in the case of oats. It does not appear that the ad- 

 vantages gained by grinding are sufficient to cover the cost of the 

 operation. In some of our earlier experiments, where ground grain 

 was fed, it was noticed after a few months that the horses preferred 

 to crush it themselves. Of course this does not refer to old horses. 

 They can be fed ground grain to advantage." 



At the North Carolina Station^ when ear corn was compared with 

 corn-and-cob meal the difference was in favor of the corn-and-cob 

 meal when corn stover was used as a roughage. When clover hay 

 was fed the difference was inconsiderable. 



' Bui. 99. * Expt. Sta. Eec, 12, p. 12. 



■' The Horse, p. 77. " Bui. 189. 



^Landw. Jahrb., 16, 1887, Sup. TIT. p. 21. 



