ON THE MANAGEMENT OF FARM HORSES. 
177 
If we value these 53 lbs. of nutriment at 1 d. each, we still find 
that it will bring the value of the hay to 4s. 5d. per 100 lbs., or 
about £5 per ton, which is pretty nearly the truth for the best 
hay. It does not, however, seem fair that the starch, &c. should 
be valued so high as albumen, as, if we seek for a larger propor- 
tion of the latter in an^ food, we are obliged to pay a higher price 
for it : I shall therefore assume that the value of albumen, &c. 
is 50 per cent, higher than that of starch ; and as fat is also a 
somewhat rare and costly product and of much value in food, I 
shall place that at the same rate as albumen ; so that, estimating it 
in this way, we bring the value of the hay to £5 12s. 6d. per ton ; 
or, if this is thought too high, we can reduce the value of the 
starch one-eighth, which will bring back the price of the hay to 
about £5 per ton. It will be fairer, however, to take £5 12s. 6d. 
per ton as the value of such hay, for I am inclined to think that 
the nutritive contents of hay, as compared with other food, have 
been somewhat overrated. It must be borne in mind that the 
amount of nourishment extracted from hay varies extremely with 
the digestive powers of the horse ; for whilst some with great 
digestive powers will extract the greater part of the nutriment, in 
others with weaker capabilities not more than one-half will be 
assimilated. All herbivorous animals, however, require a tolerable 
amount of bulk in their food, so as to distend the stomach and 
bowels to a certain degree by which the digestive processes are 
properly carried on, so that whilst a horse can not only exist but 
perform a moderate amount of work with hay only, he could not 
do so if kept entirely on oats and beans. If a horse is required to 
be kept in idleness, it is no doubt cheaper to feed him on hay alone, 
for he will be able to eat a sufficient quantity, so as to extract 
from it the requisite amount of nutriment. When, however, he is 
called upon to work, he requires at least double or treble the pro- 
portion of the muscle-making elements of food; to obtain which, if 
hay were his only diet, he would require far more than the power 
of his digestive organs would dispose of, besides which such a 
mass of food would produce such mechanical pressure on the chest 
as to obstruct respiration, and would also demand a much greater 
amount of nervous energy to be devoted to the functions of 
digestion than he would be able to supply ; for the less concen- 
trated the food, the greater the demand on the digestive functions. 
When labour, therefore, is required, we must have recourse to 
more concentrated food, though we shall have to purchase it at a 
dearer rate. The food principally used for this purpose in this 
country, and which appears to agree best with the constitution of 
the horse, is oats. 
VOL. XX1JI. B b 
