460 Suggestions for Stock-feeding in the Winter of 1893-94. 
which is attained by treading by men or boys, but better still 
by horse labour in the same way as barley is frequently 
treated. If the chaff is carried up an incline (which can subse- 
quently be thrown up or removed), extending along the barn 
floor or “ midstry,” the horses can walk off and on, and be 
kept at it till the work is completed, or as long as they can 
walk under the roof. The admixture of a pint of salt per 
bag, and a limited quantity of green fodder cut with the 
straw the first two or three hours, or in winter some pulped 
roots, will quicken and increase fermentation, which will render 
the chaff when cooled down and ripe (in, say, a month) more 
digestible and acceptable all round, also a safer and better ac- 
companiment to the food of all stock. It may, when so treated, 
be given to horses with impunity, care being taken to avoid 
gripes by selecting for them the interior of the heap, and by 
making any change gradually. A proportion of bran, a few 
roots, or, where neither are available, an ounce per day each of 
linseed oil poured over the feed, is advisable where it is found 
absolutely necessary to use fresh straw chaff for horses without 
hay. 
When preparing the “ mixing,” should (as will undoubtedly 
often be the case) the supply of roots fall short, soups may be 
made with boiling water, treacle, sugar, linseed, or meal, and 
poured over the chaff. If the different feeding-stuffs are in this 
way well mixed, the day before the heap is required for use, the 
food will have an appetising aroma and digestibility, which will 
render the expense and trouble of steaming, cooking, or condi- 
ments unnecessary. 
The present low price of wheat — 26s. per quarter — will un- 
doubtedly lead to its increased use as food for stock. The old 
prejudice against its consumption on the farm — founded, prob- 
ably, on the unsatisfactory results of injudicious administration — 
is fast disappearing, and it cannot be too widely known that a 
proportion of one-third mixed and ground with cake, maize, oats, 
and other corn has been continuously and successfully used for 
two years past on many large farms, the meal so produced 
proving a cheaper and more nutritious food than either used 
alone. For horses or colts the proportion should not exceed 
one-fourth of the whole, and is best “ grittled.” Good results 
have been obtained on small occupations by boiling wheat, and 
many affirm that it is best thus prepared, especially for pigs. 
Probably there will be a run on all such bulky foods as dried 
grains, malt combs, rice meal, bran, &c. Dried or desiccated 
grains seem to be steadily increasing in favour. Several good 
practical men have already laid in a store, aud when damped 
