The Southern farm gazette. (Starkville, Miss.) 1895-1909, 1908-04-18

The amount and KIND OF 1eeu III setS III 'He
times at which the feed Is eaten determine very
largely how good that service will be. Owners
not infrcQuently have horses TO die in their stalls
or shortly after being taken out OF the barn and
put to work: and they charge their loss up TO bad
luck, while the death is due TO bad feeding. 1t
would probably not be making the statement too
strong to say that two-thirds of the horses or
mules that die In their prime during the working
season are killed by injudicious feeding. This kill
ing of work stock by wrong feeding Is done by
prosperous and by unprosperous farmers.
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HAY Fccd-How Much and Whcn.-A working
horse does not require much over one pound OF
good hay for each hundred pounds tina; he
weighs. n one thousand pound horse. for instance.
requiring ten pounds OF hay In the course of a
day. This is supposIng that he Ia reasonably fed
on concentrated nutritious feed. along with the
hay. Furthermore. most OF the hay should be fed
a, night and after the grain has been eaten. iIs,
fed at this time IL chescd better and digesied
better. and 1t inicr.crcs less with tho working
ability of the animal.
Your Hor~c Isn't Like y Cow.-Experiencc
shows that this In the best management. and the
reason that 1t Ii the best becomes clear when We
understand some of the interior structure Of the
animal and how 1t discs;s hay. II would he very
wrong 10 expect n horse or a mule To digest hay
like n cow does. The coz has a big paaaeh.
which can 30 used az a suall hay.mow. III. con
tents of which the cow chcwa al leisure. fier
paunch will hold something like forty gallons.
while the stomach Of the horse will hold only
abou, three and one.half gallons-,hat ~. the
COWS paunch Will hold something near cirscn
times as much ~ the stomach of the horse. The
horse or mule cannot use It's stomach for "a hay
NOW. It's stomach Ii Tor dige#,ing concentrated
feed. not hay. The large inics;inc*. which feed
enters when IL leaves the small in,es,ines IN
where the horse or mule must hnally stow Ita hay
away Till diges'ed. II the animal is ailcd up on
hna yAa zAsu -~ ~s Aa~ go fA3 L. w-s
along on, of the a;omach before that organ has
done tia work on the grain, That means tn.
concentrated feed doea not nourlah tho animal "a
IL should. But that ia no, all. Too much ha,
will cause pressure against the stomach ano
lungs. 80 that Tho animal cannot do good service.
Maybe "heayc.' appear, II tho animal does light
work. the Immediate effect may not be serious.
but when It does heavy work. look out. nu, In
no case can wrong feeding long continued result,
In good.
Good Plan for a Day. rcedins-An excellen,
way 10 feed In as follows: Start OF In the morn.
ing by watering the animal aud then giving IT
one-fourth of its hay for that day. let tho hay
be cleaned up. then give oats. II will be- economy
TO use clean. sound. plump oats. At noon le; the
animal drink: and II ho; and tired. do not L., II
drink too much. Next let II cat n pound of hay
After that. II the animal did not have NIL the wa.
ter wanted. let IL have all II wants. Then give
oats. That IN all The feed for noon. AT nigh,
give water first. then the OATS. and the hay last
This Ii tho time all the hay not fed In III. morn
ing Is given. or three-fourths OF It's hay. This
feeding plan viii save both feed and animals. and
make the latter more serviccablc.
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Why Oats Are Better Feed Than Corn.-Oa,a
have been mentioned ms the concentrated feed.
because they are of high value. Oats build up
muscle. which corn does not do much: and oats
also supply material for making heat and force.
Corn does little more than supply heat and fat.
making material. Not fat. but strong. plump
muscles are what do work for an animal. Corn
Is better for horses or mules that are not nj hard
work. and is better In cold weather than In ho,