208 STABLE ECONOMY. 



are to be mixed ; the beans, barley, and roots, are boiled io- 

 gether ; a measure of chaff is thrown into the tub, then a 

 measure of the boiled food, then a measure of bran, and lastly 

 a measure of the boiled liquor. These are well mingled by 

 means of a wooden spade ; another measure of each article 

 is then added, and the whole again incorporated together. 

 In this way the man proceeds, adding the ingredients to each 

 other in small quantities, and mixing them thoroughly at each 

 addition, till a quantity taken from one part of the vessel is 

 quite the same as a quantity taken from any other part of it. 



In mixing dry grain with chaff', the same plan is to be fol- 

 lowed. If seven bushels of chaff", one of barley, one of 

 beans, and five of oats, are to be mingled together, mix the 

 grain and pulse first, in six or seven layers, and toss them to- 

 gether with a wooden shovel ; then mix one bushel of chaff 

 with one of the mixed grain ; in another place mix a like quan- 

 tity, and after all is divided in this manner into seven parcels, 

 each containing an equal quantity of each article, throw the 

 whole into one heap, and toss it over two or three times. Un- 

 less the ingredients be thoroughly incorporated, the horses 

 can not be equally served. There is error in mixing very 

 much, and also in mixing very little. The man may soon dis- 

 cover in what quantities he can manage to make the most equal 

 mass. 



Washing. — Turnips, carrots, potatoes, and other roots, are 

 generally washed before they are given. In some places, 

 however, they are given with the mud about them, which I 

 think is not a good practice. It is an unpleasant thing to hear 

 the sand and mud grating on the horse's teeth, and it can not 

 surely be very agreeable to him. When the roots are boiled 

 without washing, a dirty mess is produced having little re- 

 semblance to food. It has been alleged that the earth is 

 wholesome ; but I rather think this is a discovery made by 

 laziness. On some soils, the mud, when adhering to the roots 

 in considerable quantity, has an effect slightly laxative. It 

 may be desirable that the food should occasionally, but I 

 should think not constantly, possess this property. I have 

 never seen the mud do either good or ill. The horse at first 

 seems soon tired of it, but at last he eats quite heartily. The 

 sand may perhaps wear the teeth a little too fast. 



The best machine for washing roots, such as potatoes and 

 small turnips, is a sparred cylinder, set in a trough which is 

 filled with water. A door in the cylinder admits the roots ; 

 it is placed on axles, and turned by a crank. 



