Plan 1.-Adopted throughout the Midland counties. Weekly allowance per horse in November, December and January 1 bushel of oats, 1 peck of beans, and 1 cwt. of hay, costing for three months..... Ditto through February, March and April 2 bushels of oats, 1 peck of beans, and l'cwt. of hay, costing.............. Ditto May, June and July 3 pecks of oats, 1 peck of beans, and vetches or lucerne, costing Ditto in August, September and October 1 bushel of oats, bushel of beans, clover, pea straw, &c., costing..... Total yearly cost.. £ls ld. 600 700 500 0 0 124 In districts where oats are scarce, bran or pollard is mixed with beans, and given as follows: Weekly allowance in the autumn quarter £8. d. 11 bushel of oats, 2 pecks of split beans, and 1 cwt. of hay, costing for three months... 710 0 Ditto in the winter quarter 2 bushels of pollard, 2 pecks of split beans, and 14 cwt. of hay, costing... 24 bushels of oats, 2 pecks of split beans, 56 pounds of swedes, and barley or pea straw, costing for the three months.... 510 0 Ditto in the spring quarter 710 0 500 Total yearly cost...... 125|10| Ditto in the summer quarter 2 bushels of bran, 1 peck of split beans, clover, vetches, or tares, costing. Sometimes cut straw, steamed potatoes, and the meal of oats and beans are given, as being the most economical kind of food. The horses are fed three times a day, each time receiving fifteen pounds of food, thus In the morning, at 6 o'clock, 4 lbs. of oat and bran meal, 11 lbs. of chaff. At noon, 3 lbs. of oat and bean meal, 12 lbs. of chaff. At night, 2 lbs. of oat and bean meal, 2 lbs. of chaff, and 11 lbs. of steamed potatoes. In Scotland these horses are kept out of doors, or soiled in-doors till October, when they are put upon hard food, receiving 1 cwt. of hay and a bushel and a half of corn weekly till December, when the hay is replaced by straw, and the oats are reduced one-half. In February, 14 cwt. of hay and a bushel and a half of oats are again given, and this is continued till June, when they are fed on grass with a small allowance of corn. BEDDING. The BED is generally composed of wheat straw, of which that thrashed by hand is by far the most durable, lasting nearly twice as long, if prop. erly kept clean, as the same quality thrashed by machine. Barley straw is eaten by most horses almost as readily as hay, and, therefore, it is kept as fodder for farm horses and cattle. It is excellent for cutting into chaff, especially when there is much clover grown with it. Besides wheat straw, sand, saw-dust, tan, forest leaves and bean straw are used either where economy is studied, or for some particular reason. I shall, therefore, have something to say about each of these materials. WHEAT STRAW is by far the most general material for the horse's bed, and in private stables it may be considered as the only one used. It should be selected for its length, and the size and stoutness of its stalks, taking care that it is quite dry, but not so much so as to be brittle. It is tied up in trusses, or "boltings," as they are called in the Midland districts, which weigh about 36 pounds each. Two of these ought to serve for a week, after the bed is once made, which will require from two to three trusses, according to the size of the stall or loose-box. Unless the straw is properly shaken up and smoothly laid, the horse is not made comfortable, but lies with uneven lumps under him, which he cannot scratch into shape like a dog. Hence, the good groom takes great trouble with his horses' beds, and having first laid the old litter smoothly all over the stall, as far as the back drain, he spreads on the surface with his fork either the cleanest part of the former night's bed, or a fresh truss, according to circumstances. The straw should be raised against travis or wall on each side, so that the horse in lying down has his back protected by it, the sharp spinous processes of the vertebra being uncovered by anything but skin, and causing considerable pain when pressed against the hard wood or iron. The straw is also turned under at the lower end, so as to present a neat appearance to the eye, as well as to afford comfort to the horse. In the morning the wet and dirty parts are forked out, and the remainder turned back and pressed tightly under the manger, or it is put into some other convenient place where it can be dried, which latter plan is an excellent one in point of economy and comfort. When the litter is thus disposed of the whole surface of the floor is carefully swept, the dirt being shoveled back into the gang-way, and finally removed from the stable. A little clean straw is then thinly spread over the stall, and left with a level edge behind the heels of the horse, where natty grooms put a border of plaited straw. During the day the droppings are collected in a basket, and removed as soon as they are perceived by the groom, by which the litter is kept clean, and the hind feet of the horse are prevented from contracting foul thrushes, which many are apt to do if they are allowed to be constantly crammed full of moist droppings, as they often are by careless grooms. On the average of seasons country straw may be bought for about £2 per ton, in which there are about sixty trusses, each therefore costing 8d., and on the calculation of two trusses per week, the horse's bed will cost 1s. 4d., for that period, without estimating the value of the manure, which varies greatly. In the neighborhood of very large towns, where the supply of manure is greater than the demand, it is almost a drug, and will scarcely pay for the labor of removal, but in agricultural districts it is worth 5s. per ton, and then an arrangement is often made by the farmer to supply straw on condition of receiving back the manure made with it. It may, gener ally, be calculated that an allowance of one-third or one-fourth of the cost the straw may be made for manure, and the litter may then be estimated as costing 1s. per week. Sand is said to answer very well as bedding, and to have the great advantage of keeping the feet cool. I have never seen it used, but I am told, on excellent authority, that, excepting in very cold weather, it is a very valuable substitute for straw. The fine dry sand of the sea-shore is that which is usually employed for the purpose, but inland sand would do just as well if collected and stored in a dry condition. It requires a well drained floor, the chief objection being that it clogs the openings to the drains; but if the iron gutters are used which I have described, they may be readily swept out, and there being none permanently covered, there is no difficulty whatever. Indeed, if the sand is changed as soon as it becomes saturated with moisture, which it ought always to be, the drains are not wanted at all; but occasionally it will happen that the urine falls in or near the gutter, and then it is an advantage to have them in working order. The sand is laid about six inches deep, and every day the soiled parts are removed, and fresh sand, in proportion, spread over all, so that a very neat surface is maintained. The cost in sandy districts is very trifling, but of course elsewhere the plan would be prohibited by the charge for carriage. When sand is thus used, the feet must be stopped with cowdung more frequently than in the case of straw, or they soon become hard and brittle. SAWDUST is seldom employed as litter, its cost being quite as great as and often more than straw. It is only in or near saw mills, where there is an unusually large supply of sawdust on the premises, that it can be used advantageously. During the summer months it answers well enough if laid down as I have described under the head of sand, but like that material is too cold for use in our winters. It has the disadvantage, as compared with sand, that it soon heats when wetted with urine, and ammonia is then given off profusely, so that great care must be exercised to change it as soon as it becomes soiled. REFUSE TAN is very commonly introduced as a bedding for horses while being summered, in the belief that it is much cooler to the feet than straw. It has all the disadvantage of sawdust, without the advantages of sand, and if the latter can readily be obtained, it should by all means be substituted for it. I have often seen a box in which tan had been left for week's without change, the groom expecting that it would retain the urine of the horse without decomposition, although his nose ought to have convinced him to the contrary. It is a capital material if it is kept dry, but every one who has seen the heat which is given out by it in a hot-house will understand that it is not to be allowed to come in contact with fluid, and especially urine, or decomposition will quickly supervene. The cost is seldom more than that incurred in carting it, which will depend upon the distance from the nearest tan yard. FOREST LEAVES are not readily procurable, except in some very few localities, and I may therefore dismiss them with the remark that there is no objection to their use with which I am acquainted. Ponies at all events may be comfortably bedded with them. BEAN STRAW is far too hard and unyielding to make a comfortable bed, and if it must be used I should prefer cutting it into chaff rather than employing it in this way. DRESSING OR GROOMING. By the term dressing, is generally understood the purification of the skin which the horse requires. He is never in the highest health unless the pores are kept free from the scurf which forms on them whenever he sweats, and the object of the strapping which he receives at the hands of the groom is to get rid of this mechanical obstruction, as well as to brace the nerves of the surface by the friction of the brush or whisp. This dressing must be renewed daily, even if the horse has not been sweated, and each time that he comes in from work it is necessary to repeat it. The former operation is or should be conducted in the same manner every day, but the latter will vary according to the state of the animal when he comes in, that is to say, depending upon whether he has been sweated and is cool again, or if he is still wet, or has been in the rain with or without exercise enough to warm him, or lastly, if he has been ridden or driven through dirty roads or over a deep country. Each of these conditions will therefore require a separate consideration. The usual morning dressing is commenced either as soon as the horse has done his early feed, or on coming in from exercise, if such is allowed or enjoined. The utility of grooming after work cannot be denied, for it would be absurd to contend that a horse coming in wet and dirty should be left in that state till the next day; but it is perhaps necessary to explain to the idle groom that it is not a mere polishing of the surface of the coat which is wanted, but a deep steady pressure of the brush into the roots of the hair, so as to remove all the scurf which collects around them and clogs the pores, through which the sweat ought to be allowed to exude freely. Practically it is found that an hour's good strapping daily not only gives a polish to the coat, but it causes the secretion of a fine oil, which has a tendency to throw off water, and thus may save the horse exposed to the rain from catching cold. Moreover, it certainly stimulates 1 the nerves so as to enable them to bear exposure to the weather, which would otherwise tell injuriously on an animal which is covered up with thick clothing in-doors, and stripped of everything, even of the long coat which nature gives him, when he is submitted to the "peltings of the pitiless storm." When the horse is turned out to grass, he is washed by every shower of rain, and though his coat continues to look dirty on the surface, yet the skin itself is braced by the winds and cleansed by the waters of heaven. Not so, however, in-doors. Here his clothing keeps his coat short, and keeps up a continual state of insensible perspiration, the watery particles of which pass off through the woolen rug or serge, leaving the salts and animal matters behind, as is apparent on examining the internal surface of any clothing which has been worn for any length of time without washing, when it will be found to be lined with scurf and matted with oily animal matters. There are many drugs which will give a gloss to the skin, but they will diminish instead of increasing its capability to bear exposure, and hence their use is altogether forbidden by those who know their injurious effects. The horse which is little used requires dressing to take the place of exercise, and if he has plenty of good strapping, his coat will look like satin; but the hunter and the hack or harness horse, exposed to all weathers, must be carefully groomed and receive plenty of elbow grease, or his coat will look hollow and stand out like "the quills of the fretful porcupine," whenever he is allowed to stand for a few minutes in a cool wind. THE FIRST THING WHICH THE GROOM does in commencing his morning's task is to turn the horse round in his stall, and fold the quarter piece back upon itself, so as to expose the whole of the fore-quarters. Then, taking his brush in the hand nearest the head, whichever side he begins with, he works away at the head and face till he has thoroughly cleansed those parts, carefully cleaning out the dust and dirt from the roots of the ears, where it is very apt to lodge, and continually cleaning his brush with the curry-comb in the other hand; next proceeding to the neck, he works at that part in the same way, turning the mane over to the other side, and then going to the shoulders, bosom and legs, and finishing off with a whisp of hay, slightly damped, instead of the brush. Having thoroughly worked at this half of the body, the horse is turned round in his stall, and the hind-quarters and flank treated in the same way, the clothing being removed entirely while this is going on. In the spring and autumn, when the coat is being shed, the brush should never be used, and the whisp alone should be depended on. Nothing spoils the look of the young coat so surely as the brush, except, perhaps, the currycomb; but this latter should not, under any circumstances, touch the skin of a horse when it is in the |