Notes on Stable Management in India and the Colonies Part 1

Notes on Stable Management in India and the Colonies.

by Joshua A. Nunn.

PREFACE.

The first edition of these notes, which was written in India, having been sold out in a much shorter s.p.a.ce of time than I ever antic.i.p.ated when I wrote it, I am induced to offer this to the public. The scope of the original pamphlet has been adhered to, and all that is aimed at is to give the new arrival in the East some idea as to the management of his horses, especially those who are setting up a stable for the first time. The first edition was written in India for Anglo-Indians, who are familiar with native terms; but to this, being published in England, I have added a glossary of the more ordinary Hindustani words likely to be of use. The spelling of these will be probably found fault with by the Oriental scholar; but I have endeavoured to bring it as near the sound as possible, as it is only intended for persons in absolute ignorance of the vernacular. There appearing to be a demand for the book in the colonies, at the suggestion of the publishers I have added a few remarks on Australia and South Africa. The entire work has been rewritten, and the matter contained is the result of my own personal observations during eighteen years' service in India and the colonies at both military and civil duties.

JOSHUA A. NUNN.

LONDON, _March_, 1897.

STABLE MANAGEMENT.

FOOD.

Gram (_chunnah_).

In the north of India the chief food on which horses are fed is gram, the seed of one of the pea tribe of plants. It is a crop that ripens in the beginning of the summer, when it is harvested, and the grain thrashed out by driving cattle over it in a circle. The dry stalks, that are broken up into small pieces, are used for feeding cattle on, and are known as "missa bhoosa," in contradistinction to the stalks of the wheat when submitted to the same process, and which is known as "suffaid," or white bhoosa. The price of gram varies very greatly, according to the locality and season, and is a subject of much speculation and gambling amongst the native community. I have known it as high as 7 seers (14 lbs. weight), and as low as a maund (80 lbs. weight), per rupee. It also varies greatly in quality, depending on the locality in which it is grown and the conditions under which it has been harvested, and is by native grain-sellers known as first and second cla.s.s gram. Good gram, when a small quant.i.ty is taken up and examined in the palm of the hand, should be free from sand, dirt, small pieces of stick, straws, or other sorts of seeds; in fact, it should, what is known in the trade, "run clean." Each individual grain should be round and plump, as if the husk was well filled. It should not be shrivelled up and wrinkled, and be free from worm or weevil marks, which can be told by there being a small round hole in it, and the grain, when cracked, being found hollowed out and eaten away. Generally the weevil (kirim) will be found in the cavity, but if not, it will be full of a fine powder. Weevil-eaten gram cannot be mistaken, and denotes that the grain is old, and has been badly stored. In most samples of gram, unless quite new, a small proportion of worm-eaten grains will be found, and this is not of any consequence; but if there are a large number, there will be a larger proportion of husk (which has no nourishing properties) than grain, and a larger quant.i.ty will have to be given. When a grain of gram is crushed between the teeth it should impart the taste of a dry pea in the mouth, and be devoid of all mustiness, which is present if it has got wet or mouldy, as it is very apt to do. In new gram the husk at the point is of a slightly greenish shade, that disappears with keeping. It is generally supposed that new gram is not so good as when it is a few months old; but myself, I have never seen any ill effects from its use. The only thing to be careful about is that it is perfectly ripe, for natives have a great trick of cutting and plucking every grain, fruit, and vegetable before they have arrived at full maturity. Gram should be crushed or bruised, not _ground_, so as to break the outer husk and allow the juices of the stomach to act on the kernel. It should be crushed or bruised only, as if ground into a fine powder a good deal goes to waste. It is sufficient if each seed is so crushed that it is split in two. Gram, wheat, and all other grains in the East are ground by the women of the family between two stones, one of which revolves on the top of the other by means of a wooden handle fixed in it. To crush gram the stones require to be sharper set than if they are to grind any other grain into flour.

Gram can be got ready crushed from the corn-dealer (baniah) at a small increased charge per maund (80 lbs.), or what I generally do is to pay my head groom (syce) the regular bazaar rate (nirrick), and get the women of his family to crush it, they providing their own mill (chuckie). The only disadvantage of this plan is that it is necessary to weigh the grain a second time after it has been crushed, otherwise it will be short, as natives eat it themselves. But I found in the long run the syces would not steal it; natives are sharp enough to see when any profit can be made, and it was not to their advantage to give back short weight. Excellent gram-crushing machines, working with fluted rollers, are sold by several firms in India, and are adjustable so as to take any grain. They are made to fit into a box for travelling, which, when in use, forms a stand for the crusher to work on. They are, however, somewhat expensive, and although admirable for a large stud of horses, are hardly required for a private stable. If, however, expense is no object, they are certainly preferable to the native mill, as they are cleaner, bits of grit not coming off the stone, and each individual grain being crushed, which even the best native mills will not do. Crushed grain is much quicker digested than whole, particularly by old horses whose teeth are not in good order, and who cannot masticate their food properly. It is a common mistake to give too much gram or other grain, there being a prevailing idea that the more that is given the more work the horse will do. There is no greater error; it is like putting more coal into the furnace of an engine that can only consume a certain amount; the extra quant.i.ty only goes to waste, and upsets the digestive functions of the stomach. What is required is a judicious admixture of food given at a proper time; not a large quant.i.ty improperly given of an improper quality. Gram should be given in the proportion of one part of bran to two of gram; or what is better, one part each of bran (choker), gram, and parched barley (adarwah), or oats (jai), by weight. These can be purchased separately from the corn-dealer and mixed together, and thus cannot be eaten by any of the servants, like pure gram can be. If the horse is not digesting his food properly, whole grains will be found in his droppings that have pa.s.sed through the bowels unaltered. There will be always a few of these found, especially if the horse is getting parched barley or oats, as the husks of both these grains are very indigestible. If the horse begins to get thin, and fall away in condition as well, it is then time to take some measures to remedy matters, otherwise no notice need be taken.

Barley (_jow_).

In many parts of Northern India, especially on the Afghan frontier, whole, uncrushed barley is used. It does not seem to hurt country-breds, but with old animals that are not used to it, and particularly Australians, the practice is dangerous. During the Afghan War, on one occasion there being no other grain available, whole barley was supplied to the horses of the battery of artillery to which I then belonged. A number of them were attacked with colic, and several died from the irritation caused by the pointed awns or ends of the beards to the bowels. No doubt horses, and particularly young ones, will get used to feeding on most grains if the change is brought about gradually, but a sudden change from any one to another is dangerous. At the best, whole barley is not an economical food.

The husk resists the digestive action of the stomach and intestines, and a quant.i.ty is always pa.s.sed out of the body whole. Barley ought certainly always to be crushed, or, better still, parched, and turned into "adarwah." This is done by professional grain parchers in the bazaar; but sometimes, though rarely, some of the women of the servants' families can do it. It consists of half filling a wide shallow iron pan with sand, and placing it over a fire till nearly red hot. A couple of handfuls of the grain is then thrown into the sand with a peculiar turn of the wrist which scatters it over the hot surface, about which it is stirred for a few seconds with an iron spoon or small shovel pierced with holes like a fish-ladle. The grain is partially baked, swells up and becomes brittle, the husk cracking, when it is sc.r.a.ped up and lifted out with the ladle, the sand being riddled through back into the pan. A good parcher will turn out a "maund" (80 lbs.) in a wonderfully short s.p.a.ce of time, the whole process being gone through with a dexterity only acquired by long practice. In India barley usually runs very light, there being a great deal of husk. Boiled barley is a most useful diet for a sick horse. It requires well boiling for at least half an hour, and the water then drained off. I have known horses drink this barley-water when they won't look at anything else.

Bran (_choker_).

In most of the large stations in India there are flour-mills in which wheat is ground with the latest machinery, and when obtained from them, bran differs but little from what is seen in England; but in smaller places wheat is ground by native mills, and then the bran is not so clean.

When native-made bran is run over the hand, it will be seen that there is a large amount of flour in it, which adheres to the skin like a white powder, and which makes it much more nourishing than the cleaner prepared article. The scales also of native-made bran are much more irregular in size than the European manufactured article. Bran should have a clean, fresh smell about it, and the newer it is the better; if kept long it is likely to get mouldy. This is particularly the case during the rainy season, when the atmosphere being saturated with moisture, a good deal is absorbed by the bran, and if kept in this state for any time will get mouldy. On this account, if it is necessary to store bran during the rainy season, it should be kept in tin boxes. The inside lining of old packing cases, in which perishable goods are brought out from England, do well for this purpose, and plenty can be got for a small sum in the bazaar shops; or, if not, any native tinsmith will make a box out of old kerosine oil tins for a small sum.

Bran Mash.

It is a good plan, particularly in warm weather, in any country to give horses a bran mash once a week, and if one particular evening is fixed upon, syces get into the habit of giving it regularly without special orders. I generally used to give a standing order to give it on Sat.u.r.day night, for, as a rule, the horses are not required on Sunday. Bran has a slightly relaxing effect, that in warm climates is particularly beneficial. Bran mash is made by simply putting the necessary quant.i.ty of bran into a bucket, pouring boiling water gradually on to it, at the same time stirring it round with a stick until the whole is moist and mixed together. The bran should only be damped sufficiently to make it stick together, and should not be sloppy and wet. Some horses at first will not eat bran, but they can be tempted to by mixing a handful of whatever grain they have been used to with it.

Oats (_jai_).

Oats are now largely grown over the Punjab, Northern India, and in Tirhoot, and are sold at nearly the same price as barley. In the seaport towns Australian oats can usually be obtained; and as good oats are grown in the colonies as any part of the world. They are more expensive than the native article, and are generally only used for training race-horses on. The Indian oat, compared with the English, Australian, or South African, is a poor article, running very light, with a great amount of husk; but if properly crushed, and mixed with gram and bran in proportions of one part of each, they are greatly superior to barley. The oat in India is a winter crop, and is harvested in the spring. Both colonial and Indian oats are always white. I have never seen the black or tawny variety which is so common in Ireland. A demand having arisen for them by Europeans, it is sometimes possible in Northern India to buy them in the bazaar; but generally it is necessary to make a special arrangement with the grower, as natives do not use them as a feeding grain for their own animals. They grow the crop round the wells, and cut it green in the straw as forage for the well and plough bullocks in the spring, when they are working hard.

Arrangements can generally be made with the cultivator to purchase so much from him by weight, thrashed and delivered at your own stable, or else to purchase so many acres of the standing crop as it is growing; but the former plan is the most satisfactory, as it is astonishing the heavy crop that will be produced; and, on the contrary, you will be equally astonished to find with the other plan how light it is. The negotiations for the supply of oats should be entered into in good time in the spring--say about the beginning of March--as it is astonishing how slow such matters progress in the East, and they had better be left in the hands of your head syce. No doubt you will be cheated out of a small amount, but you must make up your mind for this before arriving in the East; but you will have the satisfaction of knowing that if you tried to carry on negotiations yourself you would be cheated out of more. I have tried both plans, and found that the syce could drive a better bargain for both of us than when I attempted to deal direct with the cultivator.

Maize (_makkai_).

Although grown all over India, maize is not much used for feeding horses; but in South Africa, where it is known as "mealies," it is the staple food grain for both man and beast. In India it is said to make horses fat and soft, but no animal in the world does harder work than a South African post-cart horse. In all probability the reason they do well on maize is that in the oat-hay forage they get there is a considerable quant.i.ty of grain; and although I have never seen it used, the experiment of feeding on oats and maize would be worth while trying in India. In South Africa maize is usually given whole, but in any of the towns it can be obtained crushed, and it is better to give it in this state. During the Afghan War maize was plentiful in some parts of the country, and I gave it to some of the horses that I had charge of. I had it parched on hot sand, in the same way as barley (adarwah) is parched, making it into American pop-corn. With certain somewhat thin and debilitated animals it had a marked effect in getting flesh on them, and all horses eat it greedily. In India maize is a summer crop, ripening in the autumn, when the ears or cobs are picked off the stalks. It is stored in the cob, and the individual grains knocked off as required by rapping them against a stick; but they must be turned over in the heap occasionally, as rats and mice are likely to cause damage, particularly the musk rat, that taints everything it comes into contact with. Horses have frequently been brought to me, said to be off their feed, and on inquiry I have found this only to be caused by the grain being tainted by musk rats, and that when a clean feed is offered to them they devour it ravenously. There are in South Africa and America a number of varieties of maize, but in India I only know of two sorts, in one of which the seeds are white and the other yellow, or a deep red colour. I don't think that there is much difference in them as far as horse food goes, but each individual grain should be plump, and fill out the husk well; they should be free from weevils, worms, or the marks of attacks from rats and mice. The husk should be well filled out, and have a shining, pearl-like, glistening appearance, and when let fall on a stone or other hard substance give off a metallic sound. When broken open, the grain inside should be of a pure white colour, and of a pleasant, mealy smell, like fresh flour. If it is discoloured, it denotes that it has been wet and fermented. Maize can be crushed by most grain-crushing machines, also in the native mill (chuckie) if the stones are properly set; but both in South Africa and India the natives pound it in a large wooden mortar made out of the trunk of a tree.

Wheat (_ghehun_).

Although it is not to be recommended as a food, still I have seen wheat used when no other grain could be obtained, and it was a choice of it or nothing at all; and in parts of Australia, and, I believe, America, it is regularly used as a horse food. It is commonly supposed that wheat is almost a rank poison to horses, and will cause fever in the feet; and no doubt with stabled animals in England it will do so, especially as the majority of cases of this nature are from accidents--horses getting loose and gorging themselves with wheat during the night, or when un.o.bserved.

With animals standing out in the open and working hard, as they do in India and the colonies, it is not so dangerous. I should not suddenly change a horse's feed from oats or gram to a full ration of wheat; but when nothing else can be got, it can be given in a small quant.i.ty without much fear of danger; but as soon as any other grain could be obtained, it should be used.

Rice (_dhan_).

In Eastern Bengal and a.s.sam horses are fed on unhusked rice and will do well on it. During the expedition into the Lushai Hills in 1879-80, in many places nothing else could be got to feed the transport mules on. Gram is not grown in that part of the country, and what little there is has to be imported, and is at a prohibitive price. I found that animals did well enough on an equal mixture of gram and rice, although at first some of them refused it. In j.a.pan rice is the only grain horses get, and the pack ponies of that country are hardy beasts, and appear to work well on it. If the rice can be crushed, it is all the better; and in Bengal and a.s.sam there is no difficulty in getting this done, as it is the food of the people, and they grind it for their own use.

Millet (_bajara_).

The various millets, known in South Africa as "Kaffir-corn," are not often used in India as horse food, but in the Cape it sometimes is. In India the millet is a summer crop harvested in the autumn. The seeds are small, and of a dark or greyish colour. It requires to be crushed before use, as the husk is very hard.

Pulses (_dhal_).

The various species of pulse grains enter largely into the food of the natives of India. Two, known as "mung" and "mote," or "moat," are excellent for getting flesh on thin, debilitated animals. They are both small oblong seeds of an olive green colour, with a very hard husk, and can be obtained in any bazaar. I prefer the mote to the mung. They both require to be well boiled to the consistency of a jelly before use, and then being well mixed in with the food, about a pound in weight of the raw seed being enough for each feed, so that the horse gets three pounds daily, a corresponding quant.i.ty of the other grain being withdrawn. I have seen most excellent results in weak animals recovering from a debilitating illness from its use, but great care must be taken that it is boiled properly.

Linseed (_ulsie_).

Linseed can be obtained all over India. In fact, a good deal of what is on the English market comes from the East. Under certain conditions it is useful in putting on flesh, and as a diet for convalescents; but care must be exercised in its use, as it contains a great deal of oil, and in cases of sickness with liver complications, which are common in a hot climate, especially in English and Australian horses, it is to be avoided. It has to be boiled to a jelly before use, or, better still, soak it in cold water for some hours until soft, and then boil it. In the hot weather, however, I prefer to use either the "mote" or "mung" to linseed.

Linseed Cake (_rhal_ or _khal_).

Linseed cake can be obtained in nearly every large town, and is the residue left after the oil is expressed; but as this process is imperfectly performed, a good deal of oil is left--much more than in the steam-pressed English cake. It is sold by the "seer" (2 lbs. weight), but in irregular lumps, not moulded into cakes as in Europe. Care must be taken in buying it, as it is very likely to be musty, and adulterated with mustard or rape seed. Both these can be easily detected by the taste or smell, leaving a pungent odour and a sharp burning taste behind. The best plan is to crush a small quant.i.ty of the cake and drop it into some boiling water, when the sharp smell and taste characteristic of the mustard and rape oil will be given off. A small quant.i.ty of linseed cake in the food will fatten horses tremendously, but makes them soft in condition. It is one of the articles used by native dealers to fatten horses for sale, and at this they are most expert. When crushed it can be mixed with the food, or boiled to make linseed tea for sick horses; and for this latter purpose I prefer it to linseed, as there is less oil in it, the smell of which sometimes nauseates an animal and causes him to refuse it.

Black Gram (_cooltee_).

In the Madras Presidency and Southern India black gram is used, the Bengal white gram not being grown there. This has to be boiled before use.

Military horses are fed on it, but it is said that it makes them soft. I have, however, no personal experience of black gram.

Preparation of Food.

In India it is the custom to damp the food before it is given. It should not be saturated so as to turn it into a sloppy paste, but just damped sufficiently to make the particles stick together. Grooms (syces) generally deal out each feed into a bucket dry from the corn-bin, and then damp it; but a better plan is to weigh out the whole of the amount required for all the horses, and put it into a wide-mouthed earthen bowl called a "naund," that can be purchased for a few pence, or a box, such as an old wine case, and damp the whole amount together, then portioning it out for each animal. The reason of this is that, if the grain is damped in the buckets, they are at once taken away, and, the probabilities are, never cleaned; but if they have to be brought forward for each feed to be put into them, and the owner takes the trouble now and again to inspect them, "syces," who are creatures of habit, get into the way of cleaning them before they bring them forward. The box, or naund, in which the grain is damped being stationary, can be looked at any time. It is necessary to be very careful about this, as the particles of food left very quickly ferment in a hot climate, and get sour, and quickly taint all the rest. As a rule, about ten minutes is long enough to damp grain; and this should be done as soon before feeding as possible, otherwise, if left long standing, it will get sour. If a horse refuses his feed, it should be at once thrown away, and on no account be kept till the next meal, by which time it is pretty certain to have fermented.