136 FEEDING ANIMALS. 



This, being moistened with saliva, passes to the third and 

 fourth stomachs in the solid form of the house-wife's 

 dough. The gastric juice cannot penetrate and circulate 

 through this ; and, consequently, the meal is often found 

 in the manure, very little changed. Some respectably- 

 read physiologists will inform you that the muscular coat 

 of the stomach (see page 49), by its contraction, gives a 

 gentle motion to the contents of the stomach, intermixing 

 these with the gastric juice, but in the case of the plastic 

 corn-meal dough, this muscular action could only succeed 

 in rolling it over, but could not break it, or render it 

 porous for the entrance or absorption of the gastric juice. 

 But if this meal is fed with cut hay or straw, so that both 

 must be eaten together, the bits of hay or straw separate 

 the particles of meal, so that the gastric juice can circulate 

 through the mass as water does through a sponge. When 

 thus fed, the meal goes with the cut hay to the rumen ; is 

 there softened, raised and remasticated. The Western 

 feeder may save much of this loss of feeding corn in the 

 ear, by running his unhusked corn stalks, ears and all 

 through a straw-cutter, cutting one-quarter of an inch in 

 length, and then feeding all together. This will cause all 

 to be remasticated, and the corn very fairly digested. 



We have practised this mode of feeding as an experi- 

 ment, and found no corn to pass in the droppings un- 

 broken. It would effect a saving to Western feeders of at 

 least 20 per cent, over their present mode of feeding in 

 shock. This point will be further discussed in its proper 

 place. 



Violence is also done to the nature of the horse when he 

 is fed upon grain alone. We have seen a horse that so well 

 understood his own wants that, when fed ground grain, 

 would take a mouthful of meal and then a mouthful of 

 hay, and mix them together himself while eating. This 

 horse understood animal physiology better than his master. 



