The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1884-06-20
aay for Horses-Quality and Quantity.

HAY, for horses especially. needs to be
Of the very best quality. Nineteen out
Of twenty cases of broken wind result
from the effects of bad hay. But even
If good hay, upon the proper or inn
proper quantities almost depend the
eventual life or death of the horse.
While the effect of feeding oats-being
light, thick-skinned or tally, provided
they are perfectly sweet-the result
may be frustrated by increased guam
tIty, but If hay is not nutritious, being
of much greater bulk, increased guam
tity is merely filling tie animal with
what does him no good and may do .
great deal of mischief by its bulk. ~,
We have been frequently surprised at
seeing many men, who were careful IN
other far less material points of their
horses, careless. in an extraordinary
degree, in the most essential one, name
", the quality of their hay. Nothing
should induce me to permit horse
to eat q pound of bad hay; or, for q
continued feed. any hay that
is not of the sweetest and prim-
est quality. 1t is the first thing
we look after in going into stable, if
we have q horse with Us. We have
visited friends who grew their own hay,
and on remarking that it was not quite
the thing, have been told: mo, it got
a little wet in making; or. it heated
and nodded little in the rick" and
this BY men who kept good horses. So.
because they grew it, their horses must
eat it.
But even otherwise good managers OF
horses sonnet mes err as TO what is the
very best quality. The first indication
| of its goodness is, no doubt, its fra grant
smell; but even this may be deceptive;
for we have seen hay very fragrant to
the smell that had been heated too
much to be good for horses. They may
ike it, and some say it fattens them,
but we suspect its fattening quality
arises chiefly from tkeir being allowed
i to eat q great deal of it. For fast horses
(bad-winded ones includedD the great
desideratum is to get into them the
greatest possible quantity of nourish-
ment in the least pc. sible compass, and
the most nutritious of its kind. ltused to
be areceived opinion among many horse
keepers that their horses should get none
but good, hard hay. Now, nothing in
the shape of sweet hay could be more
improper to give any horse intended
for fast work than such hay; nor, in
deed, is it desirable for any horse or
beast. Of what does this good, hard
hay consist, and what constitutes its
hardness? Its hardness is simply
this-there is much larger pro-
portion of q kind of grass called
..bent" in it than there is is in softer
hay. Now, let any one examine this
bent, which can not be mistaken from
other grass; we think they will find it
about as hard, and, in nourishing
properties, about on q par with the
wicker used in making clothes
baskets, and about as easy of diges-
ton. The ripper the grass is before
cutting, the nearer it, spproaches to
woody fibre.-ED.1 Hay should, in .
general way, grow on uplands, al
though bent, or bennets, as they are
sometimes called, generally do grow
there, because in very poor uplands
they are the only thing that will grow.
But good upland hay speaks for itself;
from good upland, not from sterile,
dry hills, where little but bent grass
will flourish.
The age of hay is important. Some
fancy hay can not be too old. This is
erroneous; for, however good the hay
may be, age will lessen its nutritious
qualities. Fresh, new hay is by nc
means proper for horses in work, but 8
little. even of this, as an alternative, is
by no means bad thing Hay two
wears old is quite old enough for any
horse. That cut in July is cured enough
by September of the following year; in
fact, we would prefer it to that any
older Two years after cutting hay is
old enough for any race-horse. Every
day. after this it deteriorates in its nour.
ishing qualities. '+--r- q -.-''. bel - 49, :
HAY varies with the soils and seasons.
In very dry summers the same weight
of any green food will be much more
nourishing than in dripping season.
SO. likewise, any fodder raised on 8
rich, dry soil will be much more nour
ishing than that from q poor, wet one
The standard Of comparison is the best
upland meadow hay, cut as the flower
expands, and properly made anC
stacked, without much heating. One
hundred pounds of the best is equal tt
TO lbs. of second quality to keep the
same stock, or 40 lbs. of third quail
ity, and so on, down to very coarse and
hard hay. not well made, which will be
scarcely half as valuable, and not fit fol
COWS and store cattle. even when given
in double quantity. While good hay
alone will fatten cattle, inferior hay
requires other foods connected with it.
The desire for quantity, or appetite, re-
suits from habit; for keen relish fol
what is eaten Is sign of health; eating
enormous quantities is sometimes the
result of disease. A fair quantity Of
good hay is much better thing in 6
horses stomach than wind; and if W
do not give enough OF the former fol
the stomach to feed upon, it is certain
to get filled with the latter. which often
leads to direful inconvenience, and,
indeed, danger. The daily quantity Of
hay allowed to each horse must vary
with its quality, and the work. I
grain be limited, the horse will eat ?
greater weight of poor hay than of that
more nutritious. If it be damaged, h.
must consume more than if sound; TO.
some is rejected, perhaps half, an
eaten, furnishes less nutriment. Fo
speed there should be little distensioI
of belly. Eight pounds of good hay
in the twenty-four hours is about the
usual allowance for fast-wolkine
horses, with twelve to eighteen pounds
of oats. Large draft-horses will con.
sumo twenty to thirty pounds, but fol
them the quantity is seldom limited.
Much, however, depends upon the al
lowance of grain. When given uncut
hay should be shaken before feeding.
As to giving cut hay without ground
feed to mix with it, it is not absolutely
| DacaS-ary IN orripd food pv mixipO cu1