24 STABLE MANAGEMENT. 
good oats I think little need be added in the shape of 
provender besides hay; though for a spare feeder a few 
old split beans may be added to each feed, or, what is 
thought by many better, white peas: but as I have said, 
I have little faith in the good effects of either and seldom 
use them. 
The quality of the hay depends more on the land that 
produces it than on anything else; a fact which should 
in no case be overlooked. Hay grown on rich alluvial 
soil or well-drained clay is the best; and that raised on 
hungry gravel or poor chalk is the worst. And though hay 
well made from the latter land, retaining all its most attrac- 
tive qualities, such as colour and smell, may be had cheap, 
it should on no account be used: as it contains no nourish- 
ment, and is really to the animal very little better than 
poison. But that grown on good land usually let at 3¢. 
or 4/. per acre, is by far cheaper, at 6/. or 7/7 per ton, 
than the other would be as a gift. For this reason, and 
this alone, I have always had my hay grown on the land 
in the Vale of Blackmoor: land I suppose as good as 
any in the kingdom, and although draught carriage of 
about sixteen miles is an expensive item, I prefer it to 
any and all others, and use nothing else, nor have I for the 
last thirty years. 
I may supplement the above advice with a note from 
Mr. Clark, who says: “New hay should not be given 
to horses in strong work; it should not be less than eight 
or ten months old.” He condemns clover, and prefers 
rye-grass to meadow, saying: “It is less liable to imbibe 
moisture, and being hard, and firmer than natural hay, 
it obliges a horse to break it down more minutely before 
he can swallow it, and is easier of digestion.” Now as to 
