266 
Management of Farm-Horses. 
horses, which indeed was almost unlimited, averaging three 
bushels of oats and half a bushel of beans each horse per week, 
and the best hay ad libitum, I asked him if he was quite sure 
that he could not reduce the amount of corn with advantage, 
even if he worked the horses more moderately in consequence : 
he rejoined that he had tried this plan, though not latterly, and 
was convinced that the system he adopted was the cheapest in the 
end; his horses worked hard, and for twelve hours in a summer's 
day, and it was only by having as much corn as they chose to eat 
that they could do this. Now this is important evidence in favour 
of liberal feeding, for it is not the practice of one individual only 
but of hundreds, who are obliged to study economy to the utmost 
in their arrangements. How strong is the contrast between the 
strength of such horses and that of many farmers whose teams of 
four horses in a plough are often to be seen on ordinary or even 
on light land, moving at the rate of two miles an hour through a 
day of eight hours' duration. In the keep of these horses grass in 
the summer and straw in the winter form the bulk of their food, 
assisted, perhaps, by a bushel or two of oats per week during half 
the year. In consequence of this low feeding their stamina is low, 
they are always under par, and are mcapable of doing a hard 
day's work. Though their bellies are large and distended their 
ribs are plainly to be seen, and their actual weight from deficiency 
of muscle is not more than iwo-thirds what it ought to be. Now 
I do not mean to assert that farmers' horses ought to be fed so 
high as railroad horses ; their work is different, aiid they are kept 
under different circumstances ; their food should therefore be 
regulated accordingly, avoiding alike the two extremes of too high 
and too low feeding. The circumstances in which they differ 
from contractors' horses are these : — they are required to be kept all 
the year round, their work varying according to the season ; their 
provender being raised on the farm and not purchased must 
depend very much upon the season, being also often very in- 
different as regards its quality, whilst at the same time being 
unsaleable, the damaged provender must be consumed at home ; 
then, again, the litter which the contractor is obliged to purchase 
costs the farmer nothing, being compensated for by the dung. 
There is not, therefore, the same necessity for getting out of 
each horse the utmost amount of work, but he may well be 
expected to observe the juste milieu, keeping his horses in such 
condition throughout the year as will enable him without injury 
to exact some extra labour during the busy periods. 
Taking it for granted that this is desirable, I proceed to 
consider the description of food, with its quantity and quality, 
necessary for this purpose ; and here I must observe that food 
must certainly be regulated by the description of farm, for in 
