FEEDS FOB HORSES 



243 



having ample time for chewing and digesting their feed may be win- 

 tered largely on bright straw instead of costly hay. Farm horses 

 should not be wintered in the barnyard on straw and corn stover only, 

 without grain, for they will then be in no condition for the severe 

 work of spring. The saving thru the use of straw and other cheap 

 roughages is well shown in a trial at the Michigan Station, 3 where 

 the cost of feed for horses doing moderate work during- the winter 

 was 29.6 cents per head daily when fed timothy hay and oats. When 

 shredded corn stover and oat straw was substituted for three-fourths 

 of the timothy-hay, and roots, ear corn, and a mixture of equal parts 



Fig. 68. — Mules at Work on a Corn Belt Farm 



The mule is the chief work animal on southern farms and is increasing in 

 popularity in the corn states. 



of bran, dried beet pulp, and linseed meal replaced most of the oats, 

 the feed bill was lowered over 40 per ct. and the horses better main- 

 tained their weights. 



Carbonaceous roughages require supplement. — It is important to 

 remember that hay from the grasses, corn fodder and stover, sorghum 

 and kafir forage, and straw, are all low in protein. Therefore, when 

 these roughages are fed with such grains as corn, barley, wheat, and 

 kafir, some protein-rich concentrate should be added to balance the 

 ration. 



s Norton, Mich. Bui. 254. 



