398 FOOD 



or split, but crushed. This will make a material difference ji 

 the quantity of nutriment that will be extracted. They ^re 

 sometimes given to turf-horses, but only as an occasional stimu- 

 lant. Two pounds of beans may, with advantage, be mixed with 

 the chaff of the agricultural horse, during the winter. In sum- 

 mer the quantity of beans should be lessened, or they should be 

 altogether discontinued. Beans are generally given -whole. This 

 is very absurd : for the young horse whose teeth are strong, sel- 

 dom requires them ; while the old horse, to whom they are in a 

 manner necessary, is scarcely able to masticate them, swallows 

 many of them which he is unable to break, and drops much corn 

 from his mouth in the ineffectual attempt to crush them. Beans 

 should not be merely split, but crushed ; tiiey will even then 

 give sufficient employment to the grinders of the animal. Some 

 post-masters use chaff with beans instead of oats. With hardly- 

 worked horses they may possibly be allowed ; but, in general 

 cases, beans, without oats, would be too binding and stimulating, 

 and would produce costiveness, and probably megrims or staggers. 



Beans should be at least a twelvemonth old before they are 

 given to the horse, and they should be carefully preserved from 

 damp and mouldiness, which at least disgust the horse if they do 

 no other harm, and harbor an insect that destroys the iimer part 

 of the bean. 



The straw of the bean is nutritive and wholesome, and is usu- 

 ally given to the horses. Its nutritive properties are supposed to 

 be little inferior to those of oats. The small and plump bean u 

 generally the best. 



Peas are occasionally given. They appear to be in a slight 

 degree more nourishing than beans, and not so heating. They 

 contain five hundred and seventy-four parts of nutritive matter. 

 For horses of slow work they may be used ; but the quantity of 

 chaff should be increased, and a few oats added. They have 

 not been found to answer with horses of quick draught. It is 

 essential that they should be crushed ; otherwise, on account of 

 their globular form, they are apt to escape from the teeth, and 

 many are swallowed whole. Exposed to warmth and moisture 

 in the stomach, they swell considerably, and may painfully and 

 injuiiously distend it. The peas that are given to horses should 

 be sound, and at least a twelve-month old. 



In some northern counties pea-meal is frequently used, not only 

 as an excellent food for the horse, but as a remedy for diabetes. 



Linseed is sometimes given to sick horses — raw, ground, and 

 boiled. It is supposed to be useful in cases of catarrh. 



Haj is most in perfection when it is about a twelve-month old 

 The horse perhaps would prefer it earlier, but it neither so whole- 

 some n.ir so nutritive, and often has a purgative quality. When 



