HOW TO TEST QUALITY OF HAY. 179 



indeed, sickly — smell, and there are many people 

 who, knowing no better, are led to suppose that 

 because of this sweet smell such hay is necessarily 

 very good. Horses will eat it greedily, and so 

 their idea gains ground ; but such hay is not fit 

 for food for horses at all, is most injurious, and 

 affects their kidneys, and may, if given as food for 

 any lengthened period, cause disease. A veiy 

 little common-sense exercised in the selection of 

 hay will suffice, if not to secure good hay, at all 

 events to prevent the purchase of very bad. 



Let the reader take up a handful of hay and 

 examine it. He will, at all events, be able to see 

 for himself if there is a variety of grasses in it, or 

 if they are all alike, and it is quite possible that he 

 may be able to recognise some of the grasses, and 

 if so, he may be still further able to pronounce 

 whether they are those which grow on good or 

 poor land. Poor land will not as a rule produce 

 good hay ; inversely, good grasses will not grow on 

 poor land. I do not mean to infer, of course, that 

 poor land may not be made fruitful by manures 

 and dressings, etc., but by ' poor land ' I mean land 

 which was in a poor condition when the grass was 

 growing on it. 



So much for natural hay. We will now turn to 

 the consideration of artificial hay, and we need not 



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