378 



FEEDING ANIMALS. 

 LIGHT WORK. 



The experiments with light work show the amount of 

 food required to sustain a horse of this weight under such 

 circumstances, showing a loss in weight when the amount 

 of dry food digested fell under 12 Ibs., and when it exceeded 

 13 Ibs. there was a gain in weight. But when the horse 

 was put at ordinary work he lost 1.4 Ibs. per day on 13 

 Ibs. of nutriments utilized, and under heavier work, with 

 slightly less food, lost 2.8 Ibs. per day. The great omission 

 here is that a full ration for heavy work, or even average 

 work, was not given, and therefore it does not appear what 

 ration would have been sufficient to keep his normal weight 

 under full work. It is probable, that under the 7th and 

 8th rations for light work, with which he gained from 1 to 

 2 Ibs. per day, would have sustained him under heavy work. 

 These experiments seem to have been tried, primarily, to 

 determine the digestibility of the foods, but they might 

 have been made equally valuable also in the determining 

 the proper standard for work. 



