really was the cause of the trouble. Horses are peculiarly
susceptible to the effects of molds, and under certain
conditions certain molds grow on silage which are deadly
poisons to both horses and mules. Molds must have air to grow,
and therefore silage which is packed air-tight and fed out
rapidly will not become moldy. If the feeder watches the silage
carefully as the weather warms up he can soon detect the
presence of mold. When mold appears, feeding to horses or mules
should stop immediately.

It is also unsafe to feed horses frozen silage on account of
the danger of colic. * * *

To summarize, silage is safe to feed to horses and mules only
when it is made from fairly mature corn, properly stored in the
silo. When it is properly stored and is not allowed to mold, no
feed exceeds it as a cheap winter ration. It is most valuable
for horses and mules which are not at heavy work, such as brood
mares and work horses during the slack season. With plenty of
grain on the cornstalks, horses will keep in good condition on
a ration of 20 pounds of silage and 10 pounds of hay for each
1,000 pounds of live weight.

PREPARATION OF FEEDS.

Feed is prepared for any of the following reasons: To render it more
easily eaten; to make it more digestible; to economize in amount; to
give it some new property; and to preserve it. We have already spoken of
the preparation of drying, and need not revert to this again, as it only
serves to preserve the different feeds. Drying does, however, change
some of the properties of feed, _i. e._, removes the laxative tendency
of most of them.

The different grains are more easily eaten when ground, crushed, or even
boiled. Rye or wheat should never be given whole, and even of corn it is
found that there is less waste when ground, and, in common with all
other grains, it is more easily digested than when fed whole.

Hay and fodder are economized when cut in short pieces. Not only will
the horse eat the necessary quantity in a shorter time, but it will be
found that there is less waste, and the mastication of the grains (whole
or crushed) fed with them is insured.

Reference has already been made to those horses that bolt their feed,
and we need only remark here that the consequences of such ravenous
eating may be prevented if the grains are fed with cut hay, straw, or
fodder. Long or uncut