Salt is so necessary a part of the horse's diet that it is best to have a piece of rock salt weighing two or three pounds always in his manger, rather than to leave it to his feeders to give him so much at each meal, which often results in an irregular supply.
Express companies and other large owners and users of horses have been experimenting with molasses as a food. It has been used, too, in both the French and German armies. One quart of molasses, three quarts of water, one and one-half pounds of corn meal, one and one-half pounds of bran, and six pounds of cut hay, is the proper mixture for one horse, and should be fed morning and evening, with some dry oats at noon. This is, of course, very much cheaper than the usual methods of feeding, and in a number of cases has proved successful. The writer has seen horses fed upon this diet; they did the slow and heavy work in large brewers' wagons, and looked sleek and well, and were said to do their work as well if not better than on the old system of feeding. It is difficult to use molasses in private stables, particularly in summer, when it attracts flies and sours when left in the manger, but it is a good adjunct to the bill of fare in any stable, and anything that gives variety and is wholesome is valuable as a food.
Table.—Nutritive Value of Certain Articles of Diet in 100 Parts
| ARTICLES | Water | Albuminates (1) | Fats (2) | Carbohydrates (3) | Cellulose (4) | Salts |
| Grass, before blossom | 75.0 | 3.0 | 0.8 | 12.9 | 7.0 | 2.0 |
| Grass, after blossom | 69.0 | 2.5 | 0.7 | 15.0 | 11.5 | 2.0 |
| Meadow hay | 14.3 | 8.2 | 2.0 | 41.3 | 30.0 | 6.2 |
| Oats | 14.3 | 12.0 | 6.0 | 60.9 | 10.3 | 3.0 |
| Barley | 14.3 | 9.5 | 2.5 | 66.6 | 7.0 | 2.6 |
| Maize, Indian | 12.9 | 9.23 | 1.59 | 68.0 | 5.0 | 1.66 |
| Peas | 14.3 | 22.4 | 2.5 | 52.3 | 9.2 | 2.5 |
| Beans | 14.5 | 25.5 | 2.0 | 45.5 | 11.5 | 3.5 |
| Rice | 14.6 | 7.5 | 0.5 | 76.5 | 0.9 | 0.5 |
| Linseed | 11.8 | 21.7 | 37.0 | 17.5 | 8.0 | 4.0 |
| Bran | 13.1 | 14.0 | 3.8 | 50.0 | 17.8 | 5.1 |
| Carrots | 85.0 | 1.5 | 0.2 | 10.8 | 1.7 | 1.0 |
| Linseed cake | 12.4 | 27.3 | 12.8 | 34.5 | 6.5 | 6.1 |
(1) Represent muscle-forming ingredients.
(2) Maintenance of animal heat.
(3) Waste-repairing ingredients.
(4) Woody-fibre ingredients, stimulate digestion and separate richer particles of food.
Table.—Common Weights and Measures