172 STABLE ECONOMV. 



and bowels will hardly hold sufficient hay to keep even an 

 idle liorse alive. 



The only preparation which hay receives before it is given, 

 is that of cutting it into chaff, into short pieces. When given 

 imcut, the groom does, or should, shake out the dust before 

 he puts it in the rack. 



Hay Tea. — An infusion of hay made by pouring boiling 

 water upon it^ and covering it up till cool, has been recom- 

 mended as an excellent nutritious drink for sick horses, and 

 also for those in health. It might perhaps be a very good 

 substitute for gruel ; possibly a quart or two of the tea might 

 not be a bad thing for a racer, given between heats, and tow- 

 ard the end of the day, when the horse is beginning to get 

 exhausted from fasting, but it has not been tried. 



Hay-Seed. — In Scotland, and wherever the hay is made 

 chiefly from rye-grass, the seed is often made use of in feed- 

 ing. It is sometimes mixed with the oats to prevent the 

 horse from swallowing them whole, but most generally it is 

 given along with the boiled food, either to divide it or to soak 

 up the liquor. It contains more nutriment than the hay itself, 

 but probably not a great deal, unless the hay has stood too 

 long uncut. Some people say that hay-seed is bad for the 

 wind, but I have never been able to trace any evil to its use. 

 There is always much dust mingled with it, and this should 

 always be removed by washing. Sometimes the seed is 

 boiled, and sometimes merely added to the boiled food while 

 it is hot. I do not know that boiling improves it, but it is 

 much better liked after boiling or masking than in its raw 

 state. 



Straw. — There are five kinds of straw used as fodder. 

 [Of their relative value for food see page 199.] Straw, how- 

 ever, is little used here. In many parts of Europe, wheat, 

 barley, or rye straw forms the whole or greater part of the 

 dried herbage, hay being almost unknown. In some of the 

 towns, wheat and oat straw are occasionally given to cart- 

 horses, and in some cases to coaching-horses. In the 

 country both white and black straw are in common use as 

 winter fodder for the farm-horses. It is very probable that 

 wheat-straw, and perhaps some of the others, may soon be 

 used much more extensively than they are at present. Good 

 straw is certainly better than bad hay, and possibly, by in 

 creasing the allowance of grain, and cutting the straw, hav 

 might be almost entirely dispensed with. Though containing 

 much less nutriment, it still contains some, and it serves quite 



