294 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE. 
peat-moss bedding will last a long time. The black 
mare before us was bedded down seven weeks ago, 
and her bed will last a week or two yet, perhaps 
longer. Other horses, that scatter their hay and 
trample it under foot, need a fresh bale every two 
or three weeks, and perhaps the average time that 
it lasts in good condition is four weeks. Thus it 
appears, on the whole, that peat-moss is a cheap form 
of bedding. 
In summer, sawdust frequently renewed makes a 
good bed, but it is too cold for winter, except as a sub- 
stratum with straw on top. Where J live “meadow” 
hay cut near the river can be had for $6 or $7 per 
ton. It is not quite so clean as straw for bedding; 
but some of it will be eaten by horses, and, unless 
their work is fast work, it forms not only a cheap, but 
also a wholesome food. The best straw for bedding, 
as everybody knows, is rye straw, which usually costs 
about $20 per ton, and is more economical than oat 
straw, which costs about half as much. The bedding 
should of course be well dried in the sun; meadow 
hay can thus be used twice, oat straw two or three 
times, and rye straw half a dozen times or more. 
The chief points to be observed about bedding are, 
first, that it should always be kept under a horse, for 
the reasons previously stated, and, secondly, that it 
should be used profusely. A horse likes a deep soft 
bed, — such as he does not usually have in New Eng- 
land. An English groom will bed down his horses in 
a manner to make a Yankee stare. But if the truth 
were known, liberal bedding is not only beneficial to 
the horse, it is also economical. If much straw be 
used, it can all be dried, and used again and again, 
