The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1853-1911, 1875-09-09
HORSES.

\ stock journal in Canada gives the fol-
lowing, which may be of interest to those
who are concerned in the management Of
horses. 1t says: Whenever the muscu-
lar system of the animal is greatly taxed,
we find Il demand for the nitrogcnous foods
Hunters cannot do their work on hay alone;
they require oats and beans to supply flesh
forming matter. The British soldier and
workman has hitherto cXcelled in physical
endurance and muscular power as much on
account Of his meat diet as his national
qualities. The late Mr. Brassey found that
when he fed his foreign workmcn on the
same diet as his British navies, the work
done by the two approached an equality,
Previously they had no chance with the
Englishmcn. Flesh, of course, supplies
heavy percentage Of nitrogcnous matter.
but beans and peas supply even much
larger proportion, and their feeding value
was we'll tested III the late Franco German
war, the German soldiers being largely de-
pendent upon peas as an ingredient of their
food to meet the waste Of muscular tissue
The wonderful endurance of these men Is
conclusive evidence of the nutritive value
of such food. 70 keep horses in health
when not hard worked we need no mix
lures We have one grain in which the nu-
tritiye clements are 50 prOportionately ar
ranged that it cannot be improved upon ;
practice has long adopted it. We refer to
oats. But to keep hard working horses in
condition is very different thing. Oats
alone are not equal to it, nor can any other
single grain preserve both health and con-
dition The fact is, either their chemical
constitution or their physiological action is
defective, and we must, by mixing differ
cnt articles. so alter the nutritivc value and
SO balance the physical actions as to pro
ducc food which will not disarrange the
functions of the animal, but which will sup
ply all the requirements of the body.
TO hard worked men oatmeal is no eff
cicnt substitute for beef and mutton. and
for hard worked horses oats are inefficient
as compared with beans and peas. Expcr-
ience tells us this most plainly, and science
explains it by showing that beans, peas and
tares are almost identical with beef and
mutton in the amount Of musce-forming
matter contained by each whereas oats
contain nearly fifty per cent. less than
either of them.
Now, in horses or other animals exccs-
sivcly worked, the consumption Of muscle
is far in excess of the waste of other tissue,
and the blood must be supplied by cor
respondmgly large amount of flesh forming
material To fulfill their requirement we
must give food containing heavy percen-
tage Of heterogeneous material, otherwise the
digestive organs will not be able to supply
the requisite pabulum. Beens or beef will
supply it, oats or potatoes will not, even if
we give an extra amount Of them, because
this entails the consumption of such an inn
mense bulk of material, large proportion
of which is indigestible and non-nitrogen-
Gus, that the digestive organs are ovcrpow-
cred and unable to reduce the mass to ii
state in which all its value may be absorbed.
For these reasons, then, we say that the
use of oats as n principal article Of diet for
excessively hard worked horses is very ex-
pcnsive, if not injurious