THEIR FEED AND THEIR FEET. 87 



plish as much labor in a year, working ten hours a day, 

 as he can by working fifteen, probably more. He can 

 digest as much food as he needs and no more. What- 

 ever the number of his meals, he can not assimilate 

 any more than his system requires for the work he 

 performs. Hence, it becomes a matter of the owner's 

 judgment as to when and how often. Whoever tries 

 this plan on himself, or on his horse, will not fail to 

 be convinced of its sufficiency not only, but, as before 

 remarked, of its advantages over any other system. 

 For horses that work hard throughout the entire day, 

 I repeat that the rlbon feed is altogether unphysio- 

 logical. It is especially dangerous in summer. The 

 time, however short, spent in eating, if devoted en- 

 tirely to rest would do good. The food counteracts 

 the advantages of the rest, and generates heat. A 

 man who gives such a mid-day meal and then places 

 a double-deck sun-shade on the top of his horse's 

 head to prevent " sunstroke," may think he is doing 

 the proper thing ; but " it would make a horse laugh " 

 if he knew what the thing was put there for ! 



MR. PLANT'S TESTIMONY. 



Mr. T. J. Plant, at present assistant Superintendent 

 at the American Express Co.'s Stables, 48th Street 

 and Lexington Avenue, affirms that for fourteen years 

 he drove express teams, feeding his horses but twice 

 a day. " There was no time to feed at noon," he ex- 

 plained. The work was pretty sharp driving, none 

 of our wagons were light, and the hours were long. 



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