OF SCOTLAND.
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Months they are kept on the straw of oats, beans and peas,and on clover and rye-grass hay. As soon as the grass failstowards the end of autumn, they have hay for a few weeks ;and when the days grow so short as to allow of no more thanfrom six to eight hours’ work, they are very generally fedwith different kinds of straw, according to the circumstancesof the farm; in the month of March they are again put tohay till the grass is ready to be cut. Throughout all theyear they are allowed more or less corn when constantlyworked; and during the time they are on dry fodder, parti-cularly when on straw, they have potatoes, yams, or Swedishturnips, once a-day ; sometimes boiled barley or carrots.A portion of some of these roots is of great importance tothe health of horses, when succulent herbage is first exchan-ged for hay at the end of harvest; and it is no less so towardsthe latter end of spring, when hay has become sapless, andthe labour is severe. At these two periods, therefore, it isthe practice of all careful managers, to give an ample allow-ance of some of these roots, even though they should be with-held for a few weeks during tlie intermediate period.
The quantity of these different articles of food must de-pend on the size of the horses and the labour they perform;and their value, upon the prices of different seasons, and inevery season, on the situation of the farm in respect to mar-kets, particularly for hay and roots, which bring a very dif-ferent price near large towns, and at a few miles’ distance. Itis for these reasons, that the yearly expence of a horse’s main-tenance lias been estimated at almost every sum from L. 15to L. 40 *. But it is only necessary to attend to the expenceof feeding horses, that are capable of performing the labourthat has been already stated. Such horses are fed with oats,(sometimes with beans), three times a-day for about eightmonths, and twice a-day for other four when at grass; and atthe rate of eight feeds par bushel, each horsewill eat 15 quarters
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