Kinds of Feed.

Kinds of Feed.

In this country horses are fed chiefly upon hay, grass, corn fodder, roots, oats, corn, wheat, and rye. Many think that they could be fed on nothing else. Stewart, in "The Stable Book," gives the following extract from Loudon's Encyclopedia of Agriculture, which is of interest at this point:

In some sterile countries they (horses) are forced to subsist on dried fish, and even on vegetable mold; in Arabia, on milk, flesh balls, eggs, broth. In India horses are variously fed. The native grasses are judged very nutritious. Few, perhaps no, oats are grown; barley is rare, and not commonly given to horses. In Bengal a vetch, something like the tare, is used. On the western side of India a sort of pigeon pea, called gram (Cicer arietinum), forms the ordinary food, with grass while in season, and hay all the year round. Indian corn or rice is seldom given. In the West Indies maize, guinea corn, sugar-corn tops, and sometimes molasses are given. In the Mahratta country salt, pepper, and other spices are made into balls, with flour and butter, and these are supposed to produce animation and to fine the coat. Broth made from sheep's head is sometimes given. In France, Spain, and Italy, besides the grasses, the leaves of limes, vines, the tops of acacia, and the seeds of the carob tree are given to horses.