| Show FEED FOR AN IDLE HORSE quantity and quality licit hest adopted to keep him 1 in 14 4 health ahonso A borso has leasa a small stomach and active digestion tho the food therefore should bo be of the elie highest nutritive quality with as little wasta matter as may maybe bo it should d bo be as easily digestible as possible whole corn com and cob is not sup saph a food and on general principles is not to be considered either healthful or profitable the feed ing value of a food as estimated by its chemical constituents is not a safe safo guide as the cob while not without some seeming nutritious quality is hardly ilig digestible estille and in this respect has about the same value as woody fiber in the form of sawdust in the exper experience lence of hors horsemen ernen the cob has been suspected of dangerous qualities and as productive of indigestion certainly it is not riot in any way a food that can under the special exigencies of the tile season be considered either useful safe or economical B but tit corn 6 ai Is 14 ii an n food for ii a horse under certain circumstances it is A 1 concentrated food it has a large proportion of carbohydrates which supply the required heat and is suitably deft deficient in the albumin olds that arbnot aro not wanted by an animal that is resting 9 again its starchy character is such that when in the form of meal it is masti bated it becomes a plastic and solid mass that is not riot readily attacked by the gastric fluid and is thus not easily digested and is likely to produce an attack of colic which while it may not bo be dangerous yet takes up so much of tho the reserved force of the animal as to cause a loss of food the corn then should bo be coarsely ground and if fed with cut hay will be still moro more safe and profitable to feed A horse of 1000 pounds need sin addition to fifteen pounds of good timothy hay not more than ten pounds of corn coarsely ground and this allowance ance of grain may be consi considered derell as equal to 50 per cent more of whole grain this supplies about twenty pounds of dry substance containing of digestible matters fourteen pounds carbohydrates a pound and three quarters of albu and half a pound of fat which is ample for a horse of that weight and even for one of 1200 pounds kept it in a warm stable without work but having sufficient exercise to keep the blood stirring and maintain a healthful consumption of fod food A stable may bo be warm aal yet well supplied with fresh air A sufficient supply of oxygen is indispensable for tho the proper change of the carbohydrates of the food into heat beat in a close warm impure atmosphere loaded with carbonic acid this oxidation cannot go on and the animal becomes listless and sleepy and the food is wasted therefore ample ventilation must be provided and a temperature of not riot less than 40 begs will be far better for tho the horse than one of CO 60 with less fresh air so long AS the stable does not freeze the temperature will bo be safe henry stewart in rural new now yorker |
