Volume 1

A treatise on veterinary medicine ... / by James White.

  • White, James, -1825.
Date:
1820
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A treatise on veterinary medicine ... / by James White. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    to contain more nutriment than the other kinds; it should, therefore, always be given sparingly. Chaff soon becomes dry and dusty; therefore enough only for a few days’ consumption should be cut at atime. When good hay cannot be pro- cured, fresh, sweet straw is an excellent substitute, and far better than bad hay, or, perhaps, than such as is indifferent. Hay that has been a little heated in the mow, or, as it is termed, mow-burnt, is not, I believe, so unwholesome as it is commonly thought to be; but horses are generally fond of it, and, if allowed, would often eat toomuch. It is supposed that saccharine matter is developed by the fermentation which hay undergoes in the mow, and as that whichis mow-burnt appears to contain more saccharine matter than any other, it is pro- bable that it may be found preferable when used with discretion, provided it has not been too much heated ; for when it has become quite brown there will generally be found a considerable degree of acidity in it, which probably would be injurious if eaten freely. Hay that is dry, and void of smell, is certainly bad; but that which is dusty, mouldy, and of a bad small, is exceedingly prejudicial. Dry hay should be moistened with water, and, if at ail dusty, should be previously well shaken: this is particularly necessary when it is used for horses that are greedy of water, or subject to coughs. Fay after it is one year old rather gets worse than — improves, particularly in small mows: after the se~_ cond year, it should never be used when any that | 1