266 
ARTICLES USED AS FOOD FOR THE HORSE. 
given when sufficiently old to crumble down and mingle with the 
corn. Eggs and some spices were sometimes introduced in 
making it. Nothing of the kind, so far as I know, is now used 
in this country. In different parts of Europe bread forms the 
customary corn of the horses. A French periodical of 1828, 
mentions an agriculturist “ who fed his horses with a bread com¬ 
posed of thirty bushels of oatmeal, and an equal quantity of rye- 
flour, to which he added a portion of yeast, and nine bushels of 
potatoes reduced to a pulp. With this bread he kept seven 
horses, each having twelve pounds per day in three feeds. It 
was broken into small pieces, and mixed with a little moistened 
chaff. He had fed his horses in this way for four years. Pre¬ 
viously he had used oats, hay, and straw-chaff. The translator 
says he saved forty-nine bushels of oats in twenty-four days. 
But this is nonsense, for he had only seven horses. I take the 
quotation from “ The Farrier and Naturalist,’’ a dead journal. 
The Magazine of Domestic Economy is not much better. The 
February number for 1837 tells us, that one ton of oats made 
into bread yields more nutriment than six tons of the raw article, 
and that in Sweden this has-been proved by experience. It has 
never been proved in Scotland, and I dare say it never will. It is 
true, however, that a bread composed of oatmeal and rye, in 
equal quantities, has long been used for horses in Sweden. It is 
broken down and mixed with cut straw. It is in common use 
over different parts of Germany. I cannot learn any particulars 
as to the mode of making, nor of the quantity given, nor of the 
horse’s condition. In France, many attempts have been made 
to produce a bread that would wholly or partially supersede oats, 
which seem to be comparatively precious on the continent. 
Buck-wheat, rye, barley, wheat, and potatoes, have been tried 
in varying proportions, and, according to several accounts, with 
success. But it does not appear very distinctly why these arti¬ 
cles should be converted into bread, which is a costly process, 
rather than given raw or boiled. It is, indeed, alleged, that some 
of the constituent principles are not digestible until they have 
undergone fermentation; and it may be so, but no proof is shewn 
that 1 have seen*. 
Linseed in small quantities, either whole or ground, raw or 
boiled, is sometimes given to sick horses. It is too nutritious 
for a fevered horse, but it is very useful for a cough, and it makes 
the skin loose and the coat glossy. Half a pint may be mixed 
with the usual feed every night. For a cough, it should be boiled, 
* See theRecueilde Med. V4terinaire, Fevrier 1837 et Janvier 1834; Mem. 
de TAcad^mie, 1772 ; Les Annales d’Agriculture Franqaise, 1826 ; and Le 
Journal des Haras, tom. ii, p. 184. 
