28 Stable Management and the Prevention of Disease 



digested stalk and blade. As it flourishes where there is a 

 great deal of frost and snow in the winter, it is very pro- 

 bable that it may be grown in England; and if so, it ought to 

 be a valuable addition to English grasses. 1 obtained some 

 of the seed last year, and it has been planted for trial in two 

 or three places. 



As a general rule coarse grass is not so good for horses as 

 the iiner kinds, but there are exceptions, and the only certain 

 way of finding out their qualities is by actual experiment. 

 There is, for instance, a very coarse kind of grass with 

 stems as thick as wheat straw and rough-looking flower- 

 heads, which grows in masses four or five feet high during 

 the rains in the rocky parts of the plains in Central India. 

 No one new to the country would think it good food, yet 

 horses thrive upon it, keeping both healthy and fat. It is a 

 good rule for those who have trustworthy and experienced 

 saises to ask their opinion about grasses of which there is any 

 doubt. 



When on the march there is frequently no waste land 

 from which the grass-cutters will be permitted by the 

 natives to cut grass. It is then necessary to buy it from 

 men living near the camping-grounds, who supply it some- 

 times in a green and sometimes in a dry state. 



Bad Grass Sold at Camping-Geounds. 



These natives are in the habit of trying to sell the worst 

 they possess, often such as has been collected in swamps, or 

 grass which, being very bad, they have bought at a cheap 

 rate. They will vehemently assert that no other can be 

 procured, and if the officer in charge of the horses take the 

 grass, the same trick will very probably be tried at other 

 halting-places. 



The best way to avoid being imposed upon in this manner 

 is to take a sufficient quantity of good dry grass for at least 

 one day's consumption, carrying it in bullock-carts along 

 with the troops. Then at any camping-ground, if bad grass 

 be produced, refuse to buy, and leave the whole of it in the 

 hands of the dealer. The news of this is sure to travel in 



Digitized by Microsoft® 



