The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1906-10-13
ABOUT HORSE FOOD.

words of caution regarding the quail
itv of food given to horses may not be
out of place. There certainly is, in
many cases, a great amount of care
lessness in this respect, especially in
regard TO horses that are to spend the
winter in idleness. While idle horses,
as matter of course. do not require
the amount of food that working
horses do, there is just as great dan
der in feeding food, either grain or
bulky food of poor quality, in one
case as in the other. Inferior food
cannot give good results in any case.
1t deranges digestion, lessons energy,
interferes with the functions of the
lungs, and endangers life.
We often notice that horses on the
farm are allowed to eat unlimited
quantities of hay of inferior quality.
Tnis condition has been especially
marked during recent years, when
the crop was very heavy and the
weather unfavorable during hay har-
vest, and, as result, large quantities
of inferior hay was housed. This hay
is, as stated, fed in unlimited guam
titles to the horses, especially the
idle ones. AS result of bad wealth.
er or overripeness, or both the hay
is dusty, dry, and more or less woody
in fiber. It is unwise to give the
average horse all the hay, of any
quality, he will eat. He should be
fed regularly, whether working or
idle, and should be given only such
amount as he will eat in, say, an hour.
A horses stomach is comparatively
small organ. and it is very unwise to
habitually overload it, especially so if
the food be of inferior quality. The
question may be asked, What harm
can this inferior hay do an idle
horse?" We have stated that the
hay is dusty, possibly mouldy, over
ripe and woody. When eating it,
more or less of the dust is inhaled by
the horse, and this creates an irrita-
ton of the bronchial tubes and air
cells; more of the dust is swallowed,
and interferes with digestion, the
stomach becomes loaded-we may say
"overloaded''-with the food, and,
while no uneasiness or colicky pains
may be shown, the digestive organs
are highly taxed and hence digestion
is weakened, the horse loses energy
and possibly flesh, and this is attrib-
uted to the want of a grain ration.
Then, again, the repeated overlooking
of the stomach excites and keeps up
an irritation to the branches of the
pneumogastric nerves that supply the
stomach, and as the lungs and air
cells are largely supplied by the same
nerve, the latter become affected
through sympathy, and. being al
ready more or less irritated by the in
halation of dust already noted. their
walls become abnormally distended,
the horse coughs more or less, and
more or less difficulty in respiration
will be noticed. If the exciting cause
be kept up the walls of some of the
cells rupture, and two or more cells
unite to make one, and we have
we'll marked case of heaves, which
greatly reduces the horse value, and
for which there is no cure. Those
who take notice of such things will
have observed that in the spring fol-
lowing a season such as noted, viz,
one in which the hay crop is heavy
and the season wet, much greater
number of fresh cases of heaves is
noticed than when the conditions
have been different and the hay of
good quality. Where the feeding of
inferior hay to horses cannot be
avoided, the danger can be greatly
lessened by taking little care to
shake the hay we'll to remove as much
ofthe dust as possible, and then damp
ing the residue before feeding; all the
better if it be damped with lime water,
which is made by Stacking lump of
lime in large vessel. filling the YES.
sci with water, and stirring briskly.
The undissolved lime will precipitate,
and the clear water on top is "lime
water" This will keep fresh for a
long time if it can be kept from frost.
Good clear straw, in reasonable guam
titles, is much safer food for either
working or idle horses than hay of
inferior quality, but if the latter must
be fed it will pay well to observe the
precautions noted.
The quality of the grain is of as
much importance as that of the more
bulky food. Of course, all dust can
be readily removed from the oats by
the tanning mill, but even this pre-
caution is often neglected. Musty
oats are very hard to digest, and if
fed in considerable quantities for any
length of time are liable to cause seri-
Gus digestive troubles hence we do
not consider they should be fed to
horses under any circumstances.
Roots, bran, chaff, or any other food
that is even occasionally given to
horses should be of good quality.
Partially decayed roots are very dan
gerous. The fungus that causes the
decay has very serious action upon
the nervous system. Many of the
outbreaks of that dreaded disease
called cerebro-spinal meningitis can
be traced to the consumption of par
TALLY decayed roots. The quality of
the water is also important. Water,
containing decayed animal or vege-
table matter is also, in many cases,
responsible for the disease mentioned.
While it is comparatively safe to give
food of somewhat inferior quality in
reasonable quantities to cattle Gas the
stomach of the OK is of such anatomy
that it can withstand much more
than the horse's), it should under no
circumstances be given to horses. If
a farmer is so unfortunate as to have
no food of good quality, it will pay
him to buy food for his horses rather
than feed the poor stuff. = Journal Of
AgyIcHltHye.
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