SAWDUST FOR HORSE FEED.

Dunstan Times, Issue 798, 3 August 1877, Page 3

SAWDUST FOR HORSE FEED.

me question Jias been raised as to tlie value of sawdust as an addendum to oats for horses. It is a common practice to add sawdust to the oats given to the towinghorses on the river Sarre, between Treves and Saarhruek, and a M. Ecich, in the South of France, states he is in the habit of giving saw-dust to his milch cows ; they showed no falling off in their yield of milk, and their condition underwent no change. The sawdust is intended to replace the ration of straw. The question is naturally raised—are the horses supported exclusively by the oats, and does the sawdust act as so much ballast for distending the stomach, so as to allow the numerous ducts, or mouths, on the coats, to absorb the digested juices, for quantity is as essential as quality in rations ! Life could not be sustained by the essences of nutriment. It is well-known that the French cavalry horses are underfed. Their stomach and digestive organs naturally contract to suit short commons, so that when the horses are declared to be no longer fit for the service, and are purchased by farmers, the animals, from receiving full rations in point of volume, become subject to indigestions, colics, &c. Chemistry ought to tell us how far sawdust could replace chopped straw for cattle feeding.