ARTICLES USED AS FOOD. 165 



horses ; also Indian, Egyptian, and broom corn, their blades 

 and stalk ; sugar and wild cane tops, and molasses drippings ; 

 rice, wheat, and other straw of different kinds, and their 

 grain and bran ; beans, pease, and their pods and vines ; ar- 

 tichoke and potato tops and their roots, together with many 

 other vegetables ; pumpkins, squash, and other vine fruit ; flax 

 and flaxseed ; sunflower seed ; acorns and other nuts ; the 

 twigs, buds, and leaves of trees ; apples and other fruit ; cab- 

 bage.] 



The articles upon which horses are fed in this country are 

 usually arranged into three classes. That which possesses 

 the least nutriment in proportion to its bulk, is termed fodder, 

 and consists of grass, hay, and straw ; that which possesses 

 the most nutriment, in proportion to its bulk, is termed corn. 

 This word is often used as if it belonged exclusively to oats ; 

 but it is a general name for all the kinds of grain and pulse 

 upon which horses are fed. In this work it is used only in 

 its general sense. Roots, such as carrots, turnips, and pota- 

 toes, form the third kind of food. In relation to their bulk, 

 they have less nutriment than grain, and more than fodder. I 

 do not think this classification is of any use, and here it will 

 not be regarded, but it is well to know the meaning usually 

 attached to the terins. 



Green Herbage. — There are several kinds of green food, 

 but the individual properties of each are so little known, that 

 much can not be said about them. 



Grass is the natural food of horses. It is provided for him 

 without the interference of art. It is composed of a great 

 number of plants, differing much or little from each other in 

 structure, composition, and duration. Some of the natural 

 grasses are to the horse mere weeds, destitute of nutriment, 

 though not positively injurious. Several are rejected, or eaten 

 only when there is nothing else to eat, and none are sufficient- 

 ly rich to maintain the horse in condition for constant work, 

 even though the work be moderate. At a gentle pace he may 

 travel a few miles to-day, but he is unfit for a journey to-mor- 

 row. By cutting the grass and bringing it to the stable, the 

 horse may be saved the labor of collecting it ; but still he can 

 render very little service. 



Grass, however, or green herbage of some kind, is given 

 to almost all horses during a part of the year. The young 

 animals, from the time they are weaned till they are fit for 

 work, receive grass as long as it can be had Hunting and 

 racing colts excepted, they receive little else. 



