470 FOOD. 



rbrage-crop. The vicia sativa is the most profitable variety of the tare. It 

 is very nutritive, and acts as a gentle aperient. When surfeit-lumps 

 appear on the skin, and the horse begins to rub himself against the divisions of 

 the stall, and the legs swell, and the heels threaten to crack, a few tares, cut up 

 with the chaff, or given instead of a portion of the hay, will afford considerable 

 relief Ten or twelve pounds may be allowed daily, and half that weight of hay 

 subtracted. It is an erroneous notion, that, given in moderate quantities, they 

 either roughen the coat or lessen the capability for hard work. 



Rye Ghass affords a valuable article of food, but is inferior to the tare. It 

 is not so nutritive. It is apt to scour and, occasionally, and late in the spring, it 

 has appeared to be injurious to the horse. 



Clover, for soiling the horse, is inferior to the tare and the rye grass, but 

 nevertheless, is useful when they cannot be obtained. Clover hay is, perhaps, 

 preferable to meadow hay for chaff. It will sometimes tempt the sick horse, and 

 may be given with advantage to those of slow and heavy work ; but custom seems 

 properly to have forbidden it to the hunter and the hackney. 



Lucern, where it can be obtained, is preferable even to tares, and sain-foin 

 is superior to lucern. Although they contain but a small quantity of nutritive 

 matter, it is easily digested, and perfectly assimilated. They speedily put both 

 muscle and fat on the horse that is worn down by labour, and they are almost a 

 specific for hide-bound. Some farmers have thought so highly of lucern as to sub- 

 stitute it for oats. This may be allowable for the agricultural horse of slow 

 and not severe work, but he from whom speedier action is sometimes required, 

 and the horse of all work, must have a proportion of hard meat within him. 



The Swedish Turnip is an article of food the value of wliich has not been 

 sufficiently appreciated, and particularly for agricultural horses. Although it is 

 far from containing the quantity of nutritive matter which has been supposed, 

 that which it has seems to be capable of easy and complete digestion. It 

 should be sliced with chopped strawy and without hay. It quickly fattens the 

 horse, and produces a smooth glossy coat and a loose skin. It will be good prac- 

 tice to give it once in the day, and that at night when the work is done. 



Carrots. — The virtues of this root are not sufficiently known, whether as 

 contributing to the strength and endurance of the sound horse, or the rapid 

 recovery of the sick one. To the healthy horse they should be given sliced in 

 his chaff. Half a bushel will be a fair daily allowance. There is little pro- 

 vender of which the horse is fonder. The following account of the value of 

 the carrot is not exaggerated. " This root is held in much esteem. There is none 

 better, nor perhaps so good. When first given it is slightly diuretic and laxative; 

 but as the horse becomes accustomed to it these effects cease to be produced. 

 They also improve the state of the skin. They form a good substitute for 

 grass, and an excellent alterative for horses out of condition. To sick and idle 

 horses they render corn unnecessary. They are beneficial in all chrome diseases 

 connected with breathing, and have a marked influence upon chronic cough and 

 broken wind. They are serviceable in diseases of the skin, and in combination 

 with oats they restore a worn horse much sooner than oats alone*." 



Potatoes have been given, and with advantage, in their raw state, sliced with 

 the chaff; but, where it has been convenient to boil or steam them, the benefit 

 has been far more evident. Purging has then rarely ensued. Some have given 

 boiled potatoes alone, and horses, instead of rejecting them, have soon preferred 

 them even to the oat; but it is better to mix them with the usual manger feed, 

 in the proportion of one pound of potatoes to two and a half pounds of the other 

 ingredients. The use of the potato must depend on its cheapness, and the facility 



» Stewart's Stable Economy, p. 183. 



