MAINTENANCE OF ANIMALS. 399 



one which preceded it. Various other circumstances of divers char- 

 acter must be taken into the reckoning, and in particular the state 

 of the animals. It is very necessary to have an eye to the state of 

 the coat, to the spirit or liveliness of the animal, to the nature of the 

 dejections, the size of the belly, the disposition of draught animals 

 for their w^ork, the quantity of milk given by milch-kine, &c. Nev- 

 ertheless, and as a general proposition, it may be said that a station- 

 ary condition, or a slight increase of weight, is almost always in 

 favor of the course along with which it is gained or maintained, 

 while any loss is almost always an indication of an inadequate al- 

 lowance or of deficient nutritive qualities in the ration, taken in con- 

 nection with the work required or the milk obtained. 



The experiments which I am about to detail were undertaken to 

 determine the nutritive value of a variety of forages associated with 

 the ordinary articles in keeping the horse. The great dearth of for- 

 age that was felt in Alsace, in consequence of the extraordinary 

 droughts of 1840, led us to feel the full importance of researches in 

 this direction ; for then we were compelled to replace by potatoes a 

 very large proportion of the hay usually consumed in the stable. 

 And, indeed, by assuming the theoretical equivalent as the basis of 

 this substitution, I found that I saved money by the course, at the 

 same time that the health and strength of my draught cattle were 

 maintained unimpaired. Still, as every quesvion that bears upon the 

 keep of the animals attached to a farm is too important to be left to 

 the decision of theory alone, I thought it imperative on me to con- 

 trol the inferences of chemical analysis by the results of experience. 



The best food for horses has long been admitted to be hay and 

 oats in combination ; neither article alone would have the same 

 happy effect that the two together produce. A ration of hay alone 

 would be too bulky ; one of oats alone would not be bulky enough. 

 But the horse is not particular in his food. Barley in southern 

 countries replaces oats, and answers equally well. I have my- 

 self kept horses and mules for long periods of time on maize and 

 the tops of sugar canes exclusively ; and on the elevated table- 

 lands of the Andes, and in the steppes of South America, the 

 horses, though they do much hard work, are kept wholly on green 

 meat. Much of course depends on the way in which the animal 

 has been brought up. 



In the circumstances in which we are generally placed in this 

 country, I do not imagine that there would be any actual advantage 

 in replacing the ordinary food of our horses by roots and tubers ; I 

 doubt even whether the substitution would have good effects. I 

 know, indeed, that horses have been kept through the winter upon 

 potatoes and mangel-wurzel ; but it is a different matter to feed an 

 animal and keep him standing quiet in the stable without work, and 

 to feed him at the same time that a certain quantity of labor is re- 

 quired of him every day. A horse in full work would scarcely get 

 through the bulky ration, which should consist of beet»root alone ; 

 his meal-times are restricted ; if he has certain hours for his work, 



has he certain hours for his breakfast, dinner, and supper also. 



