FOOD. 401 



etilute for grass, and an excellent alterative for horses out of con- 

 dition. To sick and idle horses they render grain unnecessary, 

 They are beneficial in all chronic 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, sHced with the chaff; but, where it has been convenient to 

 boil or steam them, the benefit has been far more evident. Purg- 

 ing 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 po- 

 tato must depend on its cheapness, and the facility for boiling it. 

 Half a dozen horses would soon repay the expense of a steaming 

 boiler in the saving of provender, without taking into the account 

 their improved condition and capability for work.* A horse fed 

 on potatoes should have his quantity of water materially curtailed. 



Furze has sometimes been given during the vidnter months. 

 There is considerable trouble attending the preparation of it, al- 

 though its plentifulness and little value for other purposes would, 

 on a large farm, well repay that trouble. The furze is cut down 

 at about, three or four years' growth ; the green branches of that 

 and the preceding year are bruised in a mill, and then given to 

 the horses in the state in which they come from the mill, or cut up 

 with the chaff. Horses are very fond of it. If twenty pounds 

 of the furze are given, five pounds of straw, the beans, and three 

 pounds of the oats, may be withdrawn. 



The times of feeding should be as equally divided as con 

 venience will permit ; and when it is likely that the horse will 

 be kept longer than usual from home, the nose-bag should in- 

 variably be taken. The small stomach of the horse is emptied 

 in a few hours ; and if he is suffered to remain hungry much 

 beyond his accustomed time, he will afterwards devour his food 

 so voraciously as to distend the stomach and endanger an attack 

 of staggers. 



When extra work is required from the animal, the system of 

 management is often injudicious, for a double feed is put before 

 him, and as soon as he has swallowed it, he is started. It would 

 De far better to give him a double feed on the previous eve- 

 ning, which would be digested before he is wanted, and then hi» 



* Professor Low says that 1 5 lbs. of potatoes yield as much nourishment as 

 four pounds and a half of oats. Von Thayer asserts that three bushels are 

 eqnalto 112lbs. of hay, and Curwen, who tried potatoes extensively in the 

 feeding of horsea says that an acre goes as far as four acres of hay. 



