FEEDING HOESES. 385 



droppings. But as the object of grinding is to reduce the 

 grain to such fine particles that the digesting fluid may 

 saturate and completely act upon it in the shortest time, 

 the value of grinding is in proportion to the fineness of 

 division. And when this finely-ground corn-meal is mixed 

 with a little more than half its weight, but several times 

 its bulk, of cut hay, as above described, this fibrous hay so 

 completely separates the particles of meal as to form a 

 spongy, porous mass, that fluids will pass through freely. 

 When the horse masticates the meal he also masticates the 

 hay, and the whole goes into the stomach together. This 

 seems to be in imitation of nature, for when the horse eats 

 grain or ripened grass in its natural state, he eats the stalk 

 with the seed. When man, therefore, separates the grain 

 for the purpose of grinding or making a more economical 

 use of, he should again mix it with fibrous food, that the 

 horse may not suffer from too concentrated a food. 



And, as we have seen, the street railroad companies and 

 omnibus lines have discovered the necessity of remingling 

 the grain, with coarse fodder. These great practical ex- 

 amples are sufficient authority for the practice, but we 

 thought it important to give the reasons on which the 

 practice is founded. 



Indian corn is the great food crop for animals in this' 

 country, and is produced in nearly every county of every 

 State, and probably more cases of horse colic arise from 

 feeding corn-meal than from all other foods combined ; and 

 this especially occurs among farm horses, because farmers 

 study the philosophy of foods very little, or the effect of 

 condition in foods upon animal health. They feed what 

 is most convenient and cheapest, without considering that 

 any good food can be other than healthy. We have known 

 of the death of at least a dozen horses which, on examina- 

 tion, proved to be caused by feeding corn-meal alone. 

 Some feed wet and others dry. But, when fed alone, it is 



more dangerous wet than dry, because the wet meal may 

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