SPECIAL FOODS 59 



animal was perfectly healthy and it occurred to me that 

 his flesh would serve excellently for hen feed. I ac- 

 cordingly offered a bag of meal for such parts of the 

 carcass as I might choose to take, provided tlie owner 

 would land the flesh on my place. The bargain was 

 made, and the body having already been skinned, I 

 found no great difficulty by the use of saw and knife 

 in cutting up the largest part of the remains. These 

 as soon as landed I packed in snow (it was early 

 winter) in a couple of large sugar boxes which I kept 

 out of doors with covers to protect from rain. The 

 flesh lasted as the animal food for eight hens about 

 through cold weather. I fed it raw, cutting it fine. 

 Under it the hens were healthy and laid remarkably 

 well, the eight averaging six eggs a day throughout the 

 winter. The meat was fed very liberally. But not 

 everyone indorses raising eggs on horse meat. 



"There was a society of old retired sea captains 

 who used to meet at tlieir rendezvous over the banlc 

 daily, to discuss the affairs of the world and express 

 their emphatic opinions on the degenerate state of 

 matters and things in these latter days. Honest old 

 sea dogs that they were, they decided that Gregory 

 ought to be prosecuted for selling eggs from hens fed 

 on horse meat ! It is but the other day an intelligent 

 man asked me my opinion on the subject, stating that a 

 neighbor was about to kill a horse too old for service. 

 That an intelligent man should ask such a question 

 showed how widespread is a ridiculous prejudice. 



"What is the difference between the food of a 

 horse and the food of a cow or ox? Then can there be 

 an}r difference between the flesh of either of them from 

 a health standpoint ? If it be conceded that it is but a 

 matter of shrinking on our part from unaccustomed 

 food, let us bear in mind that no hen has thus far been 

 found troubled by any such qualms. It is certainly 



