The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1918-01-13


may prove of great benefit in the long |
run. as far as the owners Of horse |
flesh are CONCERNED, is the view of the
situation taken by officials of the (
Washington State college. That in !
normal times there is IL loss of he !
tween md IL per cent from the pres
cnt methods Of feeding the horses has
been shown by experiments, and they
hold that when this amount must be
taken from $40 hay that the owner is
more liable to be willing to listen to the
arguments concerning changed feeding
methods, especially when they promise
the saving OF this u per cent.
The changed method Of feeding which
In claimed to produce this result IL
not one In which the farmer would
have to work out any theory. 1t was
tried on 1855 army horses at Fort Riley
In Kansas for period Of l4O days
and during that time but ID cases of
digestive illness which lasted longer
than "a hours were reported.
1t has been successfully tried in the
two veterinary hospitals which are
maintained by the state college, one at
Pullman and the other in Spokane.
OF the thousands OF cases handled In
these institutions since theiy establish
rnent there have been but nine or 10
cases Of collie which originated there,
and the state college experts attribute
this entirely to the system Of feeding
that Is used.
Shows Where Present Wrong Is.
s.. b. Nelson Of the state college force
is The man most concerned in the dis
covery Of the present system Of feed
ing, and he gives his reasons for calling
the system IN use now wrong
Because OF the peculiarities in the
anatomical structure Of the horse, diff
ferenGes IN feeding practices says
Nelson. will produce marked differ
ences in the results OF feeding and
the expenses. 4 horses stomach holds
| only from three aud II half to four and
| II half gallons. Instead Of mixing up
| the foods, as does the human stomach
| the horses stomach retains them in
layers until they pass out through the
lower opening of the stomach into the
| intestines.
| THE small intestines are about p
feet in length, and here the food is
churned backward and forward. so
| that a good deal of the digestive pro-
cess Is completed here
'"rhe small intestines pass the food
on to the large intestine, which is
| Fundamental organ in the horse. 1t
| contains several subdivisions, which
in all hold about half a barrel-25 gal
Ions or Whereabouts.
Each Organ Handles Some Particular
Food.
| with the digestive organs SO ar
ranged. the work OF handling the diff
lferent types of food is divided among
these organs. Alfalfa hay. oats, beans,
Ipeas wheat and other foods III which
the heterogeneous elements predominant
lare digested partly in the stomach and
partly in the small intestines.
1.-THE starchy foods. such as rough
iage, corn stalks and the like, are never
digested in the stomach and only in IA
small degree In the small intestine. The
principal work on these foods takes
place In the large intestine. This COW
ers the different organs of the horse
in their digestive functions and their
Ipower To absorb the feeds.
while the stomach of the horse
can only hold four and a half gallons
| il must he remembered that a horse
T can drink seven or eight gallons at one
time. This liquid passes right through
, the stomach and on To the large intes-
7 tine. where the different subdivisions
! serve as "A sort of reservoir for water
: 1T Is because of this action that
: the old style way of feeding Is at once
g inefficient and bad for the horse as
, lwell The old and recognized routine
calls for feeding of hay or grain fol
: the horses the first thing in the morn
. ling. After breakfast and before hitch
' ing them UP they are watered. At moor
= the horses are given water and ther
d fed hay or grain. At night they arr
, watered as soon as the farmer Is SURE
= they are not too warm, then givel
> grain and hay and then hedded dowr
: for the night
! Wrong Working Of Old System 10
I Explained.
"rhe actual way this old system
? works out is as follows: In the morn
ing the grain goes into the horse
1 stomach, to he followed by the hay
which forces the grain out OF th'
| stomach. This is followed by the Wa
: ter. which sends the grain still furthe
t on. At noon the horse is watere'
Il correctly enough. but he is again givsi
Z his grain and then his hay, which forces
a the grain on through the stomach. Thu
: same thing occurs once more at thu
O levening feeding.
This means an actual loss in none.
Ito the farmer of from To Is per cent
this being the amount of grain that i
i. Iprematurely forced through the organs
: without being digested. Nor is THU
the worst trouble to contend with il
this situation.
: ",rhc oats are forced into the larg
3 intestine, where they cannot be easil.
: idigested. The hay is also in the wron'
n place in the digestive organs and j
e. found in the stomach, where it canno
q he digested for some time. During thi
u period the chances for digestive dis
= orders developing are greatly in
- creased.
"rhe Veterinary department OF tn