FOOD 



249 



Gram {Gicer arietinum) . 



This is the staple grain used for horse feeding in Northern 

 India. It is a pea, highly nitrogenous, of a reddish-brown 

 and yellow colour, wrinkled externally, and excessively hard. 

 The grain should be at least six months old before using, and 

 free from weevil with which it is very commonly infected. 



It may be given crushed, or the whole grain soaked for 

 some hours ; the former is most commonly adopted. The 

 crushed grain should not be soaked as it rapidly turns sour. 



This grain is given in quantities of ten pounds daily ; it 

 means, of course, that the diet is very badly balanced, being 

 excessively nitrogenous and often producing serious trouble 

 from the difficulty in its digestion. It produces also 

 extreme fcetor of the dejecta, and a very high-coloured urine, 

 frequently the tint of coffee. These are indications of 

 excess, and if not attended to the Hver may participate and 

 further disorder arise. 



Gram and barley make a good feeding mixture during 

 the cold weather in India. During the summer, barley 

 and rice with little or no gram, would prove a sufficient 

 diet, as the horses do no work. 



Analysis of Peas. 



Table of Digestibility of Peas. 



Digitized by Microsoft® 



