FEEDING HORSES. 381 



consideration, as it does not seem to be clearly understood 

 even by some veterinarians of high standing. For in- 

 stance, Dr. Spooner, of England, in discussing rations for 

 horses, in Morton's " Cyclopedia of Agriculture," after 

 speaking of the small comparative size of the stomach of 

 the horse, says : " It seems evident that he was intended 

 by nature to consume concentrated food, such as grain; 

 and the formation of the molar teeth strongly corroborates 

 this view of the matter. These molar teeth, or grinders, 

 as they are very expressively termed, are broader and less 

 cutting than those of the ox, but decidedly better adapted 

 for grinding corn, as in a mill ; for the teeth of the upper 

 and lower jaw do not exactly correspond, but the teeth of 

 the latter are narrower, as well as the jaw itself, so that the 

 lower jaw is moved from side to side, and the grain is thus 

 triturated and ground as between two millstones." 



From this he concludes that " such poor, bulky food as 

 straw or roots is unwholesome and innutritions as a diet 

 for working horses, as unwholesome as for man to live 

 entirely upon potatoes." 



This view is certainly reasonable ; and then he goes on 

 to speak of good hay being the cheapest food for horses, 

 considering its nutriment, but that it is too bulky as a 

 complete ration for labor. Oats, he finds dearer, but con- 

 taining just the nutriment to sustain and replace muscle 

 wasted in labor. Beans are still more concentrated than 

 oats, and contain a larger proportion of muscle-sustaining 

 food, and are cheaper; but if given freely are too heating 

 and stimulating, and are apt to produce inflammatory 

 swellings of the limbs. Beans may be given in combina- 

 tion with oats one-third beans and two-thirds oats. He 

 says it has been proposed to overcome the too concentrated 

 and heating nature of beans by feeding with bran : that 

 beans are astringent and bran laxative, so far as they 

 supply each other's deficiencies, but closely resemble each 



