FOOD. 469 



Herbage, green and dry, constitutes a principal part of the food of the horse. 

 There are few things with regard to which the farmer is so careless as the mix- 

 ture of grasses on both his upland and meadow pasture. Hence we find, in the 

 same field, the ray-grass, coming to perfection only in a loamy soil, not fit to cut 

 until the middle or latter part of July, and yielding little aftermath; the 

 meadow fox-tail, best cultivated in a clayey soil, fit for the scythe in the begin- 

 ning of June, and yielding a plentiful aftermath ; the glaucous fescue-grass, 

 ready at the middle of June, and rapidly deteriorating in value as its seeds ripen ; 

 and the fertile meadow-grass, increasing in value until the end of July. These 

 are circumstances the importance of which will, at no distant period, be recog- 

 nised. In the mean time, Sinclair's account of the different grasses, or the con- 

 densation of the most important part of his work in Sir Humphry Davy's Agri- 

 cultural Chemistry, or Low's Elements of Practical Agriculture, are well 

 deserving of the diligent perusal of the farmer. 



Hay is most in perfection when it is about a twelvemonth old. The horse 

 perhaps would prefer it earlier, but it is neither so wholesome, nor so nutritive, 

 and often has a purgative quality. When it is about a year old, it retains or 

 should retain somewhat of its green colour, its agreeable smell and its pleasant 

 taste. It has undergone the slow process of fermentation, by which the sugar 

 which it contains is developed, and its nutritive quality is fully exercised. Old 

 hay becomes dry and tasteless, and innutritive and unwholesome. After the 

 grass is cut, and the hay stacked, a slight degree of fermentation takes place in 

 it. This is necessary for the development of the saccharine principle ; but occa- 

 sionally it proceeds too far and the hay becomes mowbumt, in which state 

 it is injurious, or even poisonous. The horse soon shows the effect which 

 it has upon him. He has diabetes to a considerable degree — he becomes 

 hidebound — his strength is wasted — his thirst is excessive, and he is almost 

 worthless. 



Where the system of manger-feeding is not adopted, or where hay is still 

 allowed at night, and chaff and corn in the day, there is no error into which 

 the farmer is so apt to fall as to give an undue quantity of hay, and that 

 generally of the worst kind. If the manger system is good, there can be no 

 necessity for hay, or only for a small quantity of it ; but if the rack is over- 

 loaded, the greedy horse will be eating all night, instead of taking his rest — 

 when the time for the morning feed arrives, his stomach will be already filled, 

 and he will be less capable of work from the want of sleep, and from the long- 

 continued distension of the stomach rendering it impossible for the food to be 

 properly digested. 



It is a good practice to sprinkle the hay with water in which salt has been 

 dissolved. It is evidently more palateable to the animal, who will leave the 

 best unsalted hay for that of an inferior quality that has been moistened with 

 brine ; and there can be no doubt that the salt very materially assists the pro- 

 cess of digestion. The preferable way of salting the hay is to sprinkle it over 

 the different layers as the rick is formed. From its attraction for water, it 

 would combine with that excess of moisture which, in wet seasons, is the 

 cause of too rapid and violent fermentation, and of the hay becoming mow- 

 bumt, or the rick catching fire, and it would become more incorporated with 

 the hay. The only objection to its being thus used is, that the colour of 

 the hay is not so bright; but this will be of little consequence for home 

 consumption. 



Of the value of Tabes, as forming a portion of the late spring and summer 

 food of the stabled and agricultural horse, there can be no doubt. They are 

 cut after the pods are formed, but a considerable time before the seeds are ripe. 

 They supply a larger quantity of food for a limited time than almost any other 



