THE AMERICAN HORSE MARKET 201 



tract cannot hold a quantity of oat grains sufficient 

 to produce serious disorders. Unless the horse is 

 hard pressed for time or has poor teeth oats should 

 be fed in the whole condition. Musty oats should 

 be avoided. Horsemen generally agree that new 

 oats should not be used, though Boussingault, con- 

 ducting extensive experiments with army horses, 

 arrived at the conclusion that new oats do not pos- 

 sess the injurious qualities attributed to them. 



The grain most commonly substituted for oats 

 is corn. While corn is not an ideal horse feed, it must 

 necessarily make up a part of the ration in the 

 United States. If used in moderation, in connec- 

 tion with oats, shorts or middlings, the outcome 

 will be quite satisfactory. 



The best forage, undoubtedly, is alfalfa or or- 

 dinary clover hay. If alfalfa is used the supply of 

 nitrogen in the food is increased; consequently, it 

 is not so necessary to buy concentrates like bran, 

 shorts or middlings. It goes well with corn, which 

 is a highly carbonaceous feed. 



Timothy hay, while considered by most people 

 an ideal horse feed, has its drawbacks. Good 

 timothy hay, however, is first class, and horses do 

 well on it. Well-cured prairie hay, cut at the 

 right time, is usually free from dust and is very 

 popular as a horse feed. 



During the fall and winter, nothing is better for 

 young colts and all kinds of horse stock than bright, 

 well-cured corn stover. This can be scattered out 

 in the open pasture and horses pick at it during 

 the day. In this way a lot of valuable feed can be 

 utilized. Bright corn stover is readily eaten by 

 horses. 



In the Northwest where corn is not largely grown, 

 barley is often fed to horses with good results. It, 



