The People's vindicator. [volume] (Natchitoches, La.) 1874-1883, 1881-02-12
Corn Meal fer Hor ,es.

Corn Meal fer Hor ,es.
CoRN meal has long been q staple
food for horses, as well as Other stock in
the United States, and is now largely
purchased in England and Europe as q
part of the ration for work-horses. Lis
quite as concentrated as bean meal. and
more heating in its nature, because it
has a larger proportion of carbohydrates
than beans, peas, oats or barley, and is
comparatively deficient ia muscie.form-
ing elements. Corn, Nhen ground into
fine meal (the best condition for feed
ing) and moistened, becomes very plas.
tic and adheres into a solid mass, not
easily penetrated by any liquid. When
corn meal is masticated by horse it
becomes saturated with saliva and takes
the form of a plastic, adhesive mass,
and in this form goes into the stomach
of the horse. 1t is obvious that the mus
cular movements of the stomach can
only move or roll this mass about, but
can not separate or loosen its particles
so as to render it sufficiently porous for
the circulation and operation Of the gas
trio juice. 1t is for this reason that
whole corn, or that coarsely ground,
may be fed alone to a horse with less
danger of collie or other diseases in
duced by fcvered stomach, because in
The form of cracked kernels it can not
adhere into such solid, plastic mass,
and what is not digested will be passed
in the droppings. But as the object OF
grinding is to reduce the grain to such
fine particles that the digesting fluid may
saturate and completely act upon it in
the shortest time, the value of grinding
! is in proportion to the tineness of divi-
sion. And when this Underground corn
meal is mixed with little more than half
its weight, but several times its bulk, of
cut hay, as above described, this fibrous
hay so completely separates the parti-
cles of meal as to form spongy, porous
mass, that fluids will pass through freely.
When the horse masticates the meal he
also masticates the hay, and the whole
goes into the stomach together. This
seems to be in imitation of nature, for
when the horse eats grain or ripened
grass in its natural state, he eats tho
stalk with the seed. When man, there
fore, separates the grain for the purpose
of grinding, or making more econon-
'cal use of, he should again mix it with
Gbrous food, that tho horse may not sui
fer from too concentrated food.
And, as we have seen, the street rail-
road companies and omnibus lines have
discovered the necessity of reminging
the grain with coarse fodder. These
great practical examples are sufficient
authority for the practice, but We
thought it important to give the reasons
on which the practice is founded.
Indian corn is the great food crop fol
animals in this country, and is produced
, in nearly every county of every State
and probably more cases of horse.coli'
, arise from feeding corn meal than from
all other foods combined; and thi
! especially occurs among farm horses
= because farmers study the philosoph.
of foods very little, or the effect of con
q dition Of foods upon animal health
= They feed what is most convenient an
! cheapest, without considering that an
. good food can be other than healthy
!. Ihaye known of the death of at least
;. dozen horses which, on examination
proved to be caused by feeding cor
!. meal alone. Some feed wet and Other
:. dry. But when fed alone, it is MOI
J. dangerous wet than dry, because th
|. wet meal may be swallowed with vel
!. little mastication, while the dry met
a must be masticated tiJl the saliva sat,
II rates it before it can be swallowed, an
4 the saliva assists digestion. 1t is Their
~ fore in better condition for digestio
!. when fed dry than wet. But four I
a those who had lost horses by feedir
ID meal alone, when they changed the sy
s. ten and fed the meal upon cut hi
.. moistened, so that both must be eat'
r. together, had no further losses or ev'
a illness of their horses.
g. In my experience of about thir
n wears in feeding work horses, no i'll (
n. feet has arisen from feeding corn mes
q. ground as fine as bur millstones G.
- properly do it, when mixed with cut b
II. or straw. have had cases of col
he but it was always traced to carelessnt
M of the feeder and violation of orders
no not mixing the meal with cut hay.
If have fed horses upon various conce
he trated grains, ground into fine me
nd from four years old to twenty, and tn
he were always in good health when
rule of mixing fine meal with cut hay
,te straw was strictly adhered to-Natso'
cd Live Stock Journal.