Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1886-07-08
FEEDfNG HDRs ~.
There Il an Art About u which Everybody
Doe. Not Understand.

There I. an Art Abou, u which Everybody
Does Not Understand
From the Popular Science Nows.
Horses doing full work should be ted
three u,nos daily II they can be fed four
times much tho better Little, given
frequently, is preferable to large feeds given
at long intervals. Farm horses, "a rule,
are watered Immediately before they are fed /;
otherwise, Immediately afterwards Somo
experimer tried on worthless horses at
Abort, In GO, seem To show that the
latter OF these systems IL not the right one.
The horses IL question were killed for dis
section after being ted. They were first fed
and then given water, and afterwards killed
aud examined. Some of the grain which
they had eaten was found undigested In tho
intestines, twenty feet beyond the stomach.
And the waste of food In such cases is not
all, ior a portion OF the material that ~
carried along undigested is likely to have
an intiammatory effect upon the mucous
membrane. Nor In the plan OF giving a
horse its fill of cold water Just before eating
altogether free from objection.
The London hgricuhurdt GdEenc says
that in Dublin the daily ration for tho horses
of the tramways company IL ten pounds oi
maize, seven Of oats, and Twelve OF nay,
with half pound oi bran. III sdds thst thero
IL power for work in tho well-ted horse
which IL usually wanting In the uuder-fed
one a. was well illustrated by Col. Kings
cote in a paper on " Horse Labor in Farm
ing" which showed that "w whoro tho horses
were literally fed, the plowing cost Is. sd. per
acre whereas, with tho teams in poor heart,
tho plowing cost los. ID. per acre" or nearly
half dollar more.
Nor must we forget that horses vary good
deal in their capacity for food; and appetite
which depends on health and temperament,
has ~ much influence ~ weight in dotermin-
ing how much a horse will eat We have
heard II said that a horse will eat two per
cent OF It's weight in dry food daily, and at
this rate a horse weighing Loo pounds
would require - pounds daily of prOyeuder.
The late Professor Dick found that horse
not working could be kept in fair condition
on l. pounds hay and = pounds oats but,
where good amount of work had To be
done, 1t required II pounds of hay and II
pounds of grain. Horses used tor very last
work are ied considerably more grain-as
much as Is pounds, or even - pounds where
they are continuously employed, and have
10 be kept III prime condition.
Crushed or bruised corn - more nutritious,
and therefore more economical in horse feed
ing, than grain fed whole. The most conClu'
siye experiment on this subject IL that con.
Quoted some years ago 10y the London omni'
bus company, who are the owners OF some
5000 horses. One-hslf the horses were con
fined to bruised oats and cut hay and straw,
while the other half were fed on whole oats
aud long hay. The ration allowed per day tC
each horse ON the first system was bruised
oats, IL pounds cut hay, ~ pounds cut
straw, - pounds. The allowance on the Old
system was unbruised oats, Ia pounds un
cut hay, l3 pounds. The money advantage
in favor OF bruised oats and cut hay WAS full J
five cents per day Tor each horse, equal tC
$500 per day ON the 5000 horses. And this
saving was accomplished without any sacri
fee of efficiency, for all the drivers and thOs,
having charge OF the horses agreed that the
difference in the condition of the horses Wa
decidedly in favor OF those fed on bruised
oats and cut hay fnd straw.