266 VETEEINAEY HYGIENE 



horses is most undesirable, though for cattle beans, peas, 

 barley, and maize, may be reduced to the condition of meal. 



The reason why oats should only be bruised and not 

 flattened, is to save loss of flour which inevitably follows 

 crushing, so that some of the animals get an undue pro- 

 portion of husk and others an excess of flour. 



It should be borne in mind bruised grain does not keep 

 sweet long, and that it should only be prepared in the 

 amounts required. 



The advantages and disadvantages of bruising have been 

 previously referred to, but they may be repeated here. 

 Bruised oats save a weak digestion, or a horse with defective 

 teeth, or one sick and debilitated. It does not cause a 

 larger amount of food to become digested, and is unneces- 

 sary for animals in health. 



The bruising or even crushing of beans, peas, linseed, or 

 maize, is absolutely essential for all animals, on account of 

 the hardness of the envelope. 



Cleaning Grain. 



Only those who have a practical acquaintance with colic 

 in the horse, can form an idea how frequently intestinal 

 trouble can be attributed to dirt, gravel, and foreign bodies 

 swallowed with the food, all of which can be separated 

 by machinery. Sometimes the dirt is obtained in the 

 threshing, as is the gravel found with ' cooltie,' occasionally 

 it is to be feared it is added intentionally to make weight, 

 or it may be swept up with the grain ; foreign bodies like 

 nails, wire, etc., generally find their way in during transport 

 in bulk, as on board ship. 



Cleanliness should be looked for in all corn ; with a dirty 

 sample a little patience enables an analysis to be made, by 

 taking a known weight and separating the grain from the 

 dirt by hand. 



All large grain contracts should specify the question of 

 cleanliness by screening, and freedom from foreign bodies. 

 These latter, if metal, are separated by passing the grain 

 over electro - magnets, and this practice is regularly em- 



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