takes some of the polish off the coat. "Stonehenge" remarks, "that it soon heats when wetted with urine, and ammonia is given off profusely, so that great care must be exercised to change it as soon as it becomes soiled." When a horse has on a high-heeled shoe-as during treatment for sprain of the back tendons or suspensory ligaments, &c.-sawdust makes the best bedding, as it will not catch in the long calkins. Alone, without a raised shoe, it enables a horse to assume a comfortable position for the injured limb. Sand-Forms a very cool bedding for horses; while they generally show that they like having it under them by frequently rolling on it. Its use spoils the look of the coat, for the time being, on account of its absorbing a considerable part of the oil, which is secreted by the glands of the skin in order to keep the hair soft and pliable. Tan-Is an excellent material to put down in a loose box, for a horse that is at all inclined to inflammation in the feet, provided that the syce is most careful in removing the wet portions immediately they become tainted. Nosebags. These articles should never be used, except when a proper manger is not obtainable, as on the march, &c., because they are uncomfortable to the horse, who with one on, is apt to bolt his food or chuck it out, while he taints his corn with his breath and rejected saliva; besides this, it is difficult to keep nosebags clean and sweet. When used, they should be made of canvas or sacking, and not of leather, should be deep, not too wide, and should narrow off to the bottom, so as to allow B the animal, towards the end of his feed, to readily pick up the remaining grains of corn without having to chuck the bag up. A common plan for preventing a horse from throwing corn out of his nosebag, is to tie a string at the place where either end of the head-strap is fixed to the bag, and then attach it just above the knee of one of the animal's forelegs, at such a length that he cannot chuck up his head. When nosebags are used, horses should have something on which to rest them, for instance, a low wall, or a bundle of hay. Dray horses may often be seen supporting their bags on their companions' quarters. Without some such aids the animal will be liable to spill his corn, in his attempts to get it into his mouth. Fomenting Buckets and Shoes. A couple of long narrow leather buckets for applying warm water to horses' legs are most useful in cases of accident. They should reach up to the knee, should be made of stout hide, and should be provided with wooden bottoms to preserve them from injury. I may here mention, in passing, that water, at a temperature higher than what the hand can comfortably bear, should never be used in fomenting the horse's skin. A pair of shoes, with wooden bottoms, made of pliable leather, and reaching only to a little above the fetlock joint, should be kept for poulticing the feet, when required. Each shoe should be provided with a leather thong to close the mouth. round the leg. Mashed turnips or carrots form an excellent poultice. Oat-bruising Machine.-Machines which are provided with circular rollers should be employed when oats are used. Those made by Turner of Ipswich are excellent. A small one, with packing case, which also answers for a stand, will cost about Rs. 75 in India. Articles used in Grooming.—Each horse should be provided with a brush and curry-comb, a hoof picker, manecomb, and three or four cotton rubbers; while one pair of scrapers will be enough for a small stable. English brushes should be used in preference to those of country make. The bristles should be closely set, long, and moderately soft, so as not to hurt the skin while cleansing it from scurf. The teeth of a currycomb should be blunt, not sharp, in order that they may not unduly wear out the bristles of the brush. Long, thin, copper scrapers, made with handles at each end, are much to be preferred to those of a semi-circular form, constructed with only one handle, as the latter are hard and unyielding to the skin. Capital wisps may be made from unprepared hemp (Hind. sun). CHAPTER III. Varieties of Food. OATS-GRUEL-GRAM-KULTHEE-URUD-BARLEY WHEAT-BRAN-BRAN MASHES-BRAN AND LINSEED MASHES- Oats. This grain, when grown in India, possesses a far larger proportion of husk to flour than that produced in England, hence its lower value as an article of food. As the measure of the horse's appetite is by bulk, and not by weight, the heavier the oat, the more valuable it becomes. Samples, at 47lbs., 42lbs., and 32lbs. to the bushel, will respectively yield about three-fourths, onehalf, and one-third flour, which proportions approximately give the nutritive values. Mr. Stewart (Stable Economy) tersely describes sound English corn as follows: "Good oats are about one year old, plump, short, hard, rattling when poured into the manger, sweet, clean, free from chaff and dust, and weighing about 40lbs. per bushel." Although our Indian oats are far below this standard, still they are much superior, as a food for horses, to any other grain which we can procure. This is especially the case with hardworked animals, because they can eat an almost unlimited quantity of oats without it disagreeing with them; while, on the contrary, gram, kúlthee, barley, &c., given in adequate amounts, almost always upsets the digestion, inducing diarrhoea, and a general “heated" state of the system. In order to make up for the inferior quality of the oats, we may, with great advantage, supplement them by an addition of gram, or kúlthee, which should not exceed a third of the whole amount. This practice is in accordance with that, in England, of adding beans to the corn, and is particularly applicable to old horses whose powers of assimilation are impaired. In England, new oats are rightly considered to be indigestible—an objection which may be removed by having them kiln-dried; but, in this country, they do not appear to be injurious to any great extent—a fact which may be accounted for by the extreme heat of our tropical sun. New Indian oats never present the soft, pulpy appearance seen in new English corn. Oats should be given in a bruised state, for then, not alone is the possibility of the grain passing through the horse in an undigested state avoided, but also, the animal is obliged to chew it more thoroughly than were it given whole. This grain is principally grown in Tirhoot and Dehra Doon. Gruel is best made by mixing a pound of oatmeal well up with a quart of cold water, to which should be added three quarts of boiling water, the whole being put to simmer over the fire-occasionally being stirred |