Among Horses in India. 29 



advance and cause good grass to be supplied, most probably 

 for the -wbole remainder of the march. 



Should there be no means of keeping a reserve of grass 

 with the troops, and any difficulty be experienced in obtain- 

 ing it of good quality, the conduct of the dealers should be 

 reported to the civil officers in charge of the districts through 

 which the troops will march, and they should be requested 

 to let their subordinates take measures to ensure the grass 

 being good at the halting-places in advance. 



It is only during a season following a general failure of 

 rain that there is any difficulty in procuring grass of at least 

 fair quality, except in some of the most densely-populated 

 parts where every yard of ground is cultivated to the edges 

 of the roads, or else in the rainless districts of North- 

 Western India. 



Geain. 



The grains upon which horses are usually fed are : gram, 

 barley, oats, kulthi, and some kinds of millets. 



Gram, called channa in Hindustani (Cicer arietinum), is 

 the product of a small leguminous plant, with a purple 

 flower like a vetch. It is the most common food in the 

 Bengal Presidency. When good, the grains are of a reddish- 

 brown colour of various shades, hard, free from smell, and 

 heavy enough to sink in water. If chewed they taste some- 

 thing like a pea. When gathered before they are ripe many 

 of the grains acquire a greenish-olive colour, turning black 

 with age, and becoming extremely hard. These have a bitter 

 taste when chewed, and when soaked in water they do not 

 swell readUy like good grain. 



When the grain has been exposed to wet or stored in a 

 damp place, it is liable to become mildewed, or to have a 

 sour or musty smell. Gram is subject to the attacks of an 

 insect which bores small holes in the skin and eats the 

 flour inside. It will then float upon water. A small propor- 

 tion of grains so affected is of no consequence ; but where they 

 are numerous the gram should be rejected, for of course it 

 contains less nutriment than when the grains are perfect. 



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