The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1908-12-30
wIrrERMG FARM HORSES.
Clover Hay May Be Used without
Straw with Some Meal.


How TO get the farm horses through
the winter without feeding them about
oil the coarse grain that has been
raised on the farm the previous sum.
mer, besides ton and half OF nay
apiece, is problem that most farmers
are trying TO solve. The COW in milk
pays for her keeping as she goes along;
the dry COW promises 10 foot all the
bills for keeping, with interest added.
in due time. The young cattle, II well
cared for, are paying their way by in
creased growthj the pigs, II supplied
with good, warm quarters, are doing
the same, but the idle horses are "eat-
ing their heads off, and feeling worse
than when AZ work for want OF pro-
per exercise, says the New York Tn
bune Farmer. Formerly in northern
Pennsylvania, and doubtless elsewhere,
numbering could be done in the winter.
II farmer had timber lot he drew
logs 10 the saw mill; II he did not
lumber for himself, he could draw logs
for the lumbermen, earn wages for
himself and team, and have his horses
in better condition for doing the spring
work on the farm than II they had
stood in their stalls all winter. Lum-
bering is mostly at an end in this re-
gion, and taht resource for idle horses
is gone.
Horses can be wintered in good con-
dition on clover hay without any grain
whatever, and the writer has done 1t.
II. B. Terry of Ohio has frequently do
clared that he did not feed his horses
when idle or when at work any grain
at all-only good clover hay. There is
prejudice against clover hay, so that
IL Is almost unstable in the city mar
kets, and is always So or So less in
price ton than timothy. Being more
nutritious than timothy, cheaper and
less salable, il Ia the kind Of hay on
which 10 winter farmers horses. There
are winters when the coarse grains
are relatively cheaper than hay--even
clover hay. At such times farmers
would find it 20 be to their interest TO
feed cut straw and meal. When our
hay crop was destroyed by great
food in the river ] wintered our horses
meal ground from corn and rye, mixed
in equal proportions, and they all came
ost In good condition in the spring.
The straw should be bright, cut 10
lslf-inch lengths, moistened with wat
er, and the desirable amount of mes:
thoroughly intermixed with 1t. The
desirable amount i the least quantity
required to make the animals eat their
rEesses up clean. A little salt mixed in
the mess will make Il more palatable
and ehalthful but care should be TAX.
en- not to salt 1t too much. Animals
can have too much salt as well as too
little.
As winter feed for horses the late
Henry Stewart recommended corn
coaEsely ground and mixed with cut
hay and fed dry. According to my
experience cornmeal--coarse or fine
will not stick to cut ANY, even when
the hay il moistened, and the horses
will root the mess over and throw
good deal Of it out Of the feed box in
trying to get the meal without the
hay. From long experience am OF
the opinion that cut straw and meal
is the best and cheapest feed for
horses in the winter. whether they are
az Wofk or nObS out the ulAlflE necus
10 be well done. and when the weather
b cold the straw should be moistened |
It'll hot water. OF course, the stable
should be warm and well ventilated.
like meal made from equal quantities
III corn and rye ground together, Rye
furnishes the paste to stick the straw
md meal together 50 that both must
be eaten.
With many horsefnen oats is the IA
rorite feed for horses, and you could |
not convince them that any other kind
If feed could take its place. They be-
ieve there is some mysterious princi !
lie in IL which makes horses spirited /
md active and which does not exist in
my other kind of grain. Oats are al
ways relatively dearer than rye and |
,orn, and for that reason we sell it and I
eed rye and corn. Horses kept on dry
eed should have an occasional feed Of +
aw potatoes or turnips, as relish
md q laxative. At the beginning OF
winter om horses and COWS are fed
pumpkins as long as they last, which
$ sometimes to January /. The hors
a do not thank Won for cutting them
IN; they eat them readily without
utting.