The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1880-09-30
Feeding Horses.

A French correspondent of the An1er-
icGn Farmer writes: Much economy re-
mains yet to be made in the feeding of
horses. 1t is stated that in this sense
forty per cent. of the rations of the
French cavalry could be saved and the
National budget ightened by several
millions. M. Bouley, the celebrated
veterinarian, attributes the salutary eff
fects of oats on horses to an aromatic
odor contained in the husk. Good oats,
we know, ought to be dry, heavy, shi-
ming, slipping readily through the fin
gers and exempt from all odor. An ami
NAL derives most benefit from his feed
when he eats TRANQUILITY and alone. He
is inclined to bolt the grain when in COM
pany. The oats when bruised are more
relished than when pounded. The new
practice of regulating the feed by
weight instead of by measure is now
becoming general. In Prussia each
regiment purchases its own fodder, and
care is taken to reject oats that have
sprouted from lying in sheaves on the
soil till it has received rain. This de-
testable practice is the consequence of
the difficulty of thrashing oats with the
fail when not slightly terminated.
Horses fed exclusively on hay lack en-
ergy and vigor. Green soiling is not
suited for those employed in hard work.
Lucerne and clover are better green
fodder than vetches and maize, The
latter is more suitable for cattle. Every
animal requires certain volume of food
to maintain the natural distension of the
stomach; that is to say, concentrated
food alone could not sustain life. In
Prussia, rye straw is given to horses
along with oats. They do not eat the
straw willingly; so that when the horses
are pronounced unfit for service and
are bought by farmers, they are ever
attacked by COLES in receiving the new
rations, because the stomach and intes-
tines have been contracted by the bar
rack ratiOns, and time is necessary to
enable them to return to their normal
volume Hay is of different qualities,
and the feed of oats ought to be pro-
portionate to the quality of hay. The
latter, if from marshy land, is not equal
in point of nutrition to good Oaten straw.
Hay from irrigated districts looks well,
but is not very nutritive; the best
comes from a calcareouS soil of mixed
grasses, mingled with aromatic plants
Rye straw is only good for litter; wheat
en- straw is relished by horses in the
night and eaten at all times. Carrots
are more refreshing than nourishing for
horses; turnips are next to worthless,
but Jerusalem artichokes are good. In
Bavaria, post horses are fed on potatoes
in place of oats. If the former are mixed
with bran so much the better. Bran
fattens rather than imparts vigor, and
that from rye is preferred in Germany
to that from wheat and sells at higher
price even. For horses having but little
time to feed bread is excellent, but
should never be given fresh. In some
garrison towns livery keepers contract
for the refuse bread of the soldiers. Lin
seed cake, dissolved in water, is good
for nursing mares; rape cake, when
cheap, is given to horses. Respecting
beech-mast cake. which cattle and sheep
eat with such avidity, horses will not
approach it; hence the remark that it is
for them poison. The strangest of
all diets is sawdust; yet the barge horses
along the Moselle and the Sarre daily
mix it with the feed of oats. 1t is
slightly nutritive, but its efficacy lies in
its maintaining the necessary expansion.
or volume, of the stomach.