The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1881-04-21
Corn Meal for Horses.

Conn meal has long been staple .
food for horses, IS well as other stock IN ,
the United States, aud is now largely
purchased in England and Europe as
part of the ration for work-horses. Itis !
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
comparatiy ely deficient in muscle-form-
ING clements. Corn, when ground into
fine meal Uhe best condition for feed
ing) and moistened, becomes very Pias-
tic and adneres into solid mass, not
easily penetrated by any liquid. When
! corn meal is masticated by horse 1t
! 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
tric iuice. = - Iuf t..-s -,.sou That
whole corn, or that coarsely ground,
may be fed alone to Il horse with less
danger of collie or other diseases in
duced by a feeered 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 1t 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 tibrous
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, fol
when the horse eats grain or ripened
grass in its natural state, he eats the
stalk with the seed. When man, there
: fore, separates the grain for the purpose
of grinding, or making more economl
icaI use of, he should again mix it witt
tbrous food, that the horse may not suf
fer from too concentrated IOod.
!; And, as we have seen, the street rail
l road companies and omnibus lines hav
; discovered the necessity of reminglinG
Il the grain with coarse fodder. ThCS
J great practical examples are suficien
authority for the practice, but w
2 thought it important to give the reason
{ on which the practice is founded.
: Indian corn is the great food crop f.
. animals in this country, and is produce'
y in nearly every county Of every Stats
: and probably more eases OF horse coli
+ , arise from ieeding corn meal than II
all Other foods combined; and TIL
g especially occurs among farm horses
IL because farmers study the philOsoph
I of foods very little, or the effect of cor
Il dition of foods upon animal health
n They feed what is most convenient an
p cheapest, without considering that an
le good food can be other than health,
!, [ have known of the death of at least
or dozen horses which, on examination
le proved to be caused by feeding cor
tc meal alone Some feed wet and othe
a dry. But when fed alone, it is MOI
Dr. dangerous wet than dry, because tE
i wet meal NAV be swallowed with vel
d. little mastication, while the dry me
a must be masticated till the saliva sat
~ rates it before it can be swallowed, ar
In the saliva assists digestion. It is ther
ID fore in better condition for digestic
OF when fed dry than wet. But four
ne those who had lost horses by feedil
he meal alone, when they changed the sy
TO TEN and fed the m2n} upon cut h;
L moistened, so that both must be eat'
er together, had no further losses or ev'
er illness of their horses.
nd In my experience of about thir
ty wears in feeding work horses, no i'll t
he feet has arisen from feeding corn mea
he ground as fine as bur mil1stones C;
he properly do it, when mixed with cut h
III or straw I have had cases of col
ed but II was ALWAYS ed = c1rc-cssi-c
tul of the tcnd1t l.ud violation of orders
le- not mlxilg the meal with cut hay.
en- have fed horses upon various conce
ed trated grains, ground into fine met
IS from four years old to twenty, and tn
fe. were always in good health when t
,re rule of mixing fine meal with cut hay
his straw was strictly adhered to-N@io,
m LIRE Stock ,TO3i3.J2n}