t^O ILLUSTRATED STOCK DOCTOR. 



or else cold. What salt will lie on a quarter dollar may or may not ba 

 mixed with it. 



A better mash, especially for dry fed horses, is to boil two quarts of 

 oats and a pint of linseed, for each horse, for about throe hours, and tnen 

 mix with it sufficient bran to bring it to a proper consistency. Cover with 

 a cloth and feed cold. Such a mash given once a week, if the horses are 

 OR average feed, will keep their bowels in condition. If off their feed, 

 add a little salt and a half jiint of molasses. 



Gruel is one of the best possible things for a beaten out horse. Stir 

 gradually in a gallon of water, a pint or a quart of oat-meal, or half flour 

 and half corn-meal, according as the horse likes it thick or thin, and fill 

 up the pail with cold water. If the horse hesitates about drinking it, 

 give him first a mouthful of water. If he be very tired a quart of sound 

 ale will do him good, but under no circumstances, when exhausted, should 

 he be given a feed either of grain or hay. If the horse will take nothing 

 else, turn down a bottle of sound ale, rub him until dry and refreshed, 

 and then feed. 



Hay TEA is also a good stimulant. To make it — fill a bucket three- 

 quarters full of bright, clean hay, pour over it enough boiling water to 

 fill the pail, and cover tight, to keep in the steam. Press the hay down 

 occasionally, let it stand fifteen minutes, turn off, and add water enough 

 to make a bucket three-quarters full. Give to the horse when the liquid 

 is cool enough to drink. 



Vni. The Value of Hay and Straw. 



In the feeding of horses the principal use of hay is to distend the 

 stomach. For this reason lean horses, and those just off the pasture on 

 coarse feed, require more than those which are regularly stabled and 

 groomed. The change to grain must not be too sudden, else indigestion 

 is apt to set in. Once a horse is used to full rations of grain, if oats are 

 used, or corn meal and bran, he may get along daily with from six to 

 eight pounds of hay a day. The hay, however, must be of the very 

 best, bright, clean and free from dust. There is no economy in feeding 

 bad hay. It is the cause of heaves, broken wind and other diseases 

 produced by indigestion. Good clean straw is altogether better than 

 poor hay. Straw is altogether the best material for bedding, and should 

 always be used when it can be had. In the West it is plenty, and yet 

 not one farmer in ten uses it for bedding in sufficient quantity or renews 

 i*oft«^ '^n'Tigh. 



