The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1892-05-31
The AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE
Bulletine No. 10, Shows Experiments in Hors
Feeding. q

Bulletine No. IS, Shows Experiments in Hors
Feeding. g
Bulletine No. Is of the Agricultural E1
pertinent station of Utah has been received.
This bulletin reports the result of feed
ing trial of horses by the director, ]. w.
Sanborn. 1t reports the result of trial in
direction that the American experiment
station literature is almost silent upon,
viz. The feeding Of horss hay and grain
mixed, and feeding cut against whole hay
to horses.
1t is common belief with horsemen that
when grain. especially meal and more es-
pecially such meal as corn NEAL is fed to
horses alone or mixed with hay, it tends TO
compact in the stomach and produce indi-
gestion. 1t Is believed that it SO far com
pacts that the gastric juices do not have
free access to the mass of it. Further
more, it is believed to be subject more to
the washing influence of heavy drinking.
In the latter respect it is known that the
horses stomach is very small, and that
grain is liable to be washed out of 1t, as the
stomach necessarily overAowes with water.
AS usual, the writer fed two lots of
horses for nearly three months, one lot
with hay and grain mixed, and the other
lot with hay and grain fed separately At
the end of this period the food was reversed,
and the horses were fed some two mouths
more. 1t would be unnecessary to quote
the figures of this lengthy trial. Suffice it
to say that it was found that horses, as in
the case of cattle and pigs, showed no
disadvantage by the division of the grain
and hay into seperate feeds over feed
Ing hay mixed with grain. Indeed.
in this trial he found a disadvantage
for the horses on the hay and grain mixed,
they not maintaining their weight as well.
The author ascribed this result to the fact
that the timothy hay when cut fine with
its sharp solid ends irritated and made sore
the mouths of the horses, and possible in
duced too rapid eating, as when the hay
and grain were moist they would be more
likely to eat rapidly than when fed dry.
AS this trial is in accord with trials with
ruminants and with the pig, it would seem
quite probable that the old and persistent
argument in favor OF mixing hay and grain
issnot sound.
The second trial reported in this bulletin
covered feeding of cut against whole hay
to horses. This trial also covered two
periods in which the foods were reversed
with the sets in order TO determine whether
any change of weights found was due to
the individualism of the horses, or whether
1t was due to the system of feeding. The
two periods covered from August 10 to
will not review the tabulated data that
accompany the bulletin. This trial was
very decislvely in favor of the cut hay.
The difference in weight of the horses was
1l5 pounds in favor of cut clover for the
four months and half covered by his
period. The food fed was clover, and the
author points out the fact that clover hay
and lucerne, unlike timothy hay, do not pre-
sent sharp solid cutting edges. The results
are decisive, and In accord with those of q
trial made by the Indiana experiment sta
ton with cattle. Director San born points
out the fact that these trials, covering
nearly years time with four horses,
showed that horses consume practically
the same amount of food that cattle do
when high fed, and makes it somewhat
clear that horses make as economical of
hay and grain as do cattle, and calls atten-
tion to the fact that the practice of charg-
ing more for pasturage of horses where
grooming Is not involved is not well
founded. He also shows that less food
was eaten during the hot months than dur
ing the cooler months, and particularly
that the horses ate less grain during the
hot months than during the cooler months
The trial seems to show also that rather
large ration of grain for work horses is an
economical one