When forage cannot be obtained, grazing should be allowed at every spare moment, especially early in the morning when the dew is on the grass.
The daily allowance of oats, barley, or corn is 12 pounds to each horse; that of hay, 14 pounds; the allowance of straw for bedding is 100 pounds a month to each animal.
Barley and corn should both be crushed, if possible, when used to feed horses or mules.
Good oats weigh about 32 pounds to the bushel, barley about 48 pounds, corn about 56 pounds. Pressed hay weighs about 11 pounds per cubic foot.
Good Oats are clean, hard, dry, sweet, plump, full of flour, and rattle like shot. They have a clean and almost metallic lustre. Those in a sample vary but little in size, and are entirely free from smell. The pressure of the nail ought to leave little or no mark on them. The value of an oat depends mainly on its weight per bushel. Dirty oats weigh heavier than clean ones.
New oats can be distinguished from old by their smell, which is fresh and earthy, and by their taste, which is fresh and milky, while that of the old oats is slightly bitter. New oats are indigestible. Oats one year old are best.
Various Defects in Oats.—Kiln-dried.—Oats that have been dried to render them hard after they have been damp. They have a loose and shrivelled appearance about the ends of the husks, and are easily recognized by their peculiar smell and reddish color.
Foxy Oats.—Oats that have undergone a certain process of fermentation from having been stowed in bulk when not perfectly dry. They are unfit for horses, are of a reddish color, and have both bitter smell and taste. Their reddish color is sometimes gotten rid of by subjecting them to fumes of sulphur, which makes them unnaturally white.
Damp Oats are objectionable and should be rejected. Continued dampness soon produces softness, mustiness, mouldiness, and sprouting.