8o6 
THt RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
at least 30 cents compared with Timothy hay. Corn 
fodder, as may not be g'enerally known, will dry up a 
had case of heaves. While these horses are idle, I 
would put them on a half ration, and perhaps some of 
them on even less, only not stinting the bulky feed 
too much. IIor.ses vary so much in keeping qualities, 
that the judgment of the feeder must he constantly 
exercised to know whether he is feeding right. I 
estimate that the average cost of keeping a horse here 
is near $50 per year. .j. k. wino. 
Idle Horses Get too Much. 
1. 1 have never had any experience with winter 
wheat bran. We know nothing about it here in the 
northwest. 2. The .same may be said of what was 
formerly known as middlings. Since the millers have 
learned to re-grind the middlings and make the best 
grade of flour from them, the residue does not bear 
much resemblance to the old-fashioned middlings. 
Wherever the new process of milling is practiced, the 
term middlings may mean anything between mill 
sweepings and bran ; and. like the term phosphate, 
should be dropped. 3. At the present time, corn and 
bran are worth about the .same, pound for pound, in 
Minnesota, and nothing could be gained by exchang¬ 
ing one for the other as far as price is concerned, 
llran, however, is a better food for idle horses than 
corn. 4. Oats are out of the question. No one should 
think of feeding oats at $20 per ton when wheat, bran 
and corn are worth but $15. 5. Corn is worth here 
but 40 cents per bushel. If it be worth 50 cents per 
bushel in New York, or $17.85 per ton, it would pay 
to replace a part of it with wheat at 45 cents per 
bushel or $15 per ton. 6. I would sell most of the hay 
at $12, and replace it with stover if I could get the 
latter in good condition for $7, or even $8 per ton. 
7 and 8. Most farm horses are fed entirely too much 
when they are idle. Their owners, or those having 
charge of them, as a rule, do not stop to think that a 
horse with nothing to do requires much less than one 
at hard work. The feeding becomes a matter of 
habit, and the same ration is fed regardless of the 
work the hor.se is doing. 
The cost of keeping a farm horse a year, with feed 
at the prices named above, ought not to exceed $(50. 
Suppose that he is at work 240 days and idle 125 days. 
While he is at work, 12 quarts of oats at a cent a pound 
equal 12 cents ; 10 pounds of hay equal six cents, a 
total of 18 cents per day, or $43.20 . When idle, six 
pounds of bran or its equivalent in either of the other 
equally cheap foods equal 4J^ cents ; 10 pounds of 
stover at .$8 per ton equal four cents, a total cost of 
83^ cents per day; or $10,023^, a grand total of $53,823^ 
for the year. 1 have considered oats in the summer 
ration, but at present prices of other products I would 
use part corn and part bran or ground wheat. Ground 
wheat at present prices, is cheaper than bran, but, of 
course, must be fed in moderation, and as only part 
of the grain ration. In spite of the popular belief 
that corn is not a good summer feed for horses, I have 
fed it with good results. Last spring and summer 
my work horses were fed on corn and clover hay, and 
I never knew them to do better. j. m. drew. 
Minnesota. 
Feed What You Have on the Farm. 
Few problems are presented to the farmer which 
are more difficult to solve, than that of the economy 
of feeding farm animals. Each man’s surroundings 
must, and will, have influence upon the matter with 
him ; for what would be good economy with one 
farmer, might not prove such with even close neigh¬ 
bors. Most farmei’S raise the main portion of their 
feed, and few, indeed, would find profit in selling one 
kind to replace it by the purchase of another kind. 
There is scarcely enough difference in commercial 
values as compared with feed values in any locality, 
to pay for the labor of sale, purchase and exchange. 
Hence, I would say, feed farm horses what you have, 
whether it consist of Timothy or clover hay, corn 
stalks, or even good straw as rough feed, and corn, 
oats, wheat or bran as a grain feed. There is more 
economy in keeping them warm, clean and healthy, 
than in the kind of feed. Let them never want for 
salt or water, and if they are warm and clean, with 
the chance to exercise for health, they will be content 
and eat such food as is given, assimilate it, and be 
ready for work when wanted. 
Oats are the best of all grains for a horse, but are 
not economical. If I had all the feed to buy, and corn 
were 50 cents per bushel, I would feed wheat bran at 
$14 per ton most of the time. It would prove cheapest 
and most healthful, especially if straw or Timothy hay 
were fed. At the same price, I would take bran in 
preference to middlings. It will be found good 
economy to feed a mixed grain ration, say, one-half 
bran, the other half corn or oats. Good, bright corn 
fodder is the best of all rough feed in winter, for idle 
farm horses; but is not an economical feed to buy. 
With Timothy hay at $12 per ton, I would buy good, 
bright clover hay at $8, or even a little more, if the 
horses were idle, or if their work were .slow work. 
They will eat more of it, biit they will require much 
less grain than if fed Timothy, and have less colic. 
Where good, bright wheat or oat straw is abundant, 
as here, idle horses may be wintered well and cheaply 
on it and bran, "^rhe straw causes constipation, but if 
bran be used as a grain ration, it will correct that. I 
have tried oil meal as a ration, but value it only as a 
tonic. The greatest economy is in perfect health ; all 
food will then be assimilated. w. w. i.atta. 
Indiana. 
Corn as a Basis for Work. 
The question simply stated, is this : “ Having an 
abundance of corn, to what extent will it pay to ex¬ 
change a portion of it for braji, middlings, oats or 
wheat ?” Since the object is work or energy, and not 
nitrogenous substances, it can easily be seen that 
those foods which px-oduce the most enei-gy or force, 
are the desired ones. Expeidence shows that corn is 
one of the best, if not the best foods for working 
animals. Energy, in the animal kingdom, is produced 
by the combustion of the carbon of the food. In 
contra-distinction, in the production of lean meat, for 
gi-owing animals, and for all animals while nursing 
their young, nitrogen is a most important factor ; and 
those foods which contain an abundance of albumin¬ 
oids, are best suited for this purpose. If work pei’- 
formed by the animal resulted in a large expenditure 
of mxxscle, then it would require a large amount of 
nitrogenous food to rej)lace the worn-out ti.ssue. Hut 
force is pi’oduced, to a very great extent, thi*ough the 
combustion of the carbonaceous matter; thei*efore, 
the animal requires food rich in carbohydrates. 
Albuminoids can be changed by the animal into 
fats, but it takes 100 pounds of the former to make 50 
pounds of the latter, and thus, an animal must eat a 
much larger amount of clover hay, oats, or bi-an, than 
of corn, in order to produce the same amount of 
energy. One of the largest street railway companies 
in this country, a few years ago, made an exhaustive 
study of different foods, and found that corn was not 
only the cheapest, but the most satisfactory grain feed 
for their horses. The experience of intelligent farmers 
who have a lai-ge amount of heavy fai*m work, coin¬ 
cides with the results arrived at above. In order to 
make comparisons easier, all feeds' are reduced to 
prices per ton. Corn at 50 cents a bushel, would be 
$17.80 per ton. Hran from winter wheat, and Minne¬ 
sota bran do not differ enough to warrant any differ¬ 
ence being made in this case. One of the values of 
bran, oats or middlings, is to aid digestion by distend¬ 
ing and floating the coim in the stomach. One-fifth of 
the corn might be profitably traded for other foods, at 
the following prices, with corn at $17.80 per ton 
Hran, .$17 ; middlings, $17 ; wheat, $17; oats, $20. 
Wheat, though valuable, would not lighten xxp the 
corn as well as the other foods named. 
Stover, thoxigh a valuable food for horses, usually 
contains a much larger amount of water than Timothy 
hay. This difference amounts to about 500 pounds in 
a ton. Hesides this, there is a large portion which the 
animal will not eat. This i*educes the value of stover 
to .$4 per ton, as compared with Timothy hay at $12. 
Hy u.sing a little stover, bran, etc., a variety of foods 
is furnished, which is to be commended. 
For horses heavily at work, either summer or win¬ 
ter, 15 pounds of grain, and the same amount of hay, 
is a very fair day’s ration. When the animal is at 
rest, reduce the grain and hay to 12 pounds each, the 
grain ration to be composed of 12 poixnds of corn and 
thi-ee pounds of bran, oats or middlings. At these 
pi-ices, a day’s I'ation for a horse at work would cost r 
12 pounds of corn, 11 cents ; 3 poixnds of oats, 3 cents; 
15 pounds of hay, 11 cents ; total, 25 cents. If one of 
the other foods mentioned be used instead of the 
oats, the cost would be one-half cent less per day- 
When not at work, the daily cost would be 18 cents. 
Allowing an animal to be at rest four months of the 
year, and working the other eight, the avex-age cost 
per month would be not far from $7. 
The six University farm horses, weighing on an 
average 1,300 pounds, during the winter draw upwards 
of 6,000 tons of coal, and do the heavy farm and other 
wox’k during the summer. They work about 290 days 
each year, often in the snow and rain. They are now 
making seven trips of two miles each, per day, and 
each load exceeds two tons, net. Each animal re¬ 
ceives, on an avex*age, 17 pounds of coim and oats, and 
17 to 19 pounds of Timothy hay, which frequently 
contains a little clovei-. Four of these horses ax-e yet 
somewhat immature, yet all are fat, sleek and vigor¬ 
ous on this feed, as might he expected, from the 
slightly more libex-al diet that has been recommended 
above. [i’kof.] i. v. kobkbts. 
TWO FARM HELPS. 
Theee-Horsk Evkner. —We find the picture shown 
at Fig. 216 in the Gex-man Fax-mer. In some thx’ee- 
horse eveners, the swing is so gx-eat that one horse can 
lag and throw most of the weight on the other two. In 
others, this is overcome by fastening the whilfletrees 
to a rigid bar, which is also objectionable. In the 
plan pictured, the whilfletrees have considerable play, 
yet a single horse cannot take advantage of this to 
lag behind, for the chains connected with rods in the 
wheels and with the harness and shafts, hold them 
where they belong. We think the pictux'e is simple 
enough for any one to understand. Notice how the 
reins ax*e fastened 
“ Hard-Times ” Hired M.vn. —We have been asked to 
reprint the picture .shown at Fig. 217. Three stakes, two 
nine and the other 10 feet long, ax'e nailed together as 
shown in the pictux*e, making a three-cornered frame 
on which swings a wooden pendulum eight feet long. 
There are holes in it so that it can swing at diffex-ent 
lengths, on a bolt at the upper part of the fx’ame. Two 
boards on the fx-ame guide the x-od. With the end of 
the saw fastened to the lower end of the swing rod, 
you have about the motion given by another man. 
We believe that we could do better wox-k with this 
than with a pax-tner who persisted in “ riding the 
saw.” Some of our readers who have tried this plan, 
speak highly of it. Make one and give your wife a 
Christmas px’esent of a dry wood pile. 
INSTRUCTIONS, FOR NOVICES, IN PLANT¬ 
ING AND PRUNING FRUIT TREES. 
Never plant trees over two years old, one-year-old 
tx-ees (especially of nut or stone fruits) are better; 
choose healthy trees, of x-apid, clean, straight gx’owth. 
Plant only when the soil is damp, never when wet. 
The soil should be just nice and friable, so as to crum¬ 
ble easily. It should also be comparatively warm, 
hence I consider fall better than spx-ing for planting 
(for this region at least) ; as, in addition to the ground 
being generally in good condition, it gives the x’oots 
time to get a start to help the following year’s growth, 
being more than equal to half a year’s start toward 
bearing. 
Have the holes dug sufficiently wide and deep to ad¬ 
mit of the roots being placed therein without the 
least curtailment or cramping. Plant so that the 
trees will be little, if any, deeper than when in the 
nursery. This may be easily seen by the difference in 
