Grain and pulse are broken, or bruised, by passing them between a pair of metal rollers. The only object of this practice is to insure the digestion of these seeds, which do not resist solution when their husk is broken. If the horse would masticate his food sufficiently, there would be no need to bruise it; But some have bad teeth, and others feed in haste; and by both much of the grain is swallowed entire and passes through the digestive apparatus without yielding any nutriment. The skin which covers oats, beans, and some other seeds, seems to resist the action of the stomach. It will not dissolve, or at least it is evacuated before it is dissolved, and it prevents solution of the meal which it covers. In some horses, the quantity that passes off entire is very considerable : it has been estimated at one sixth of all that is eaten. But the quantity is not certain; and there is seldom such a loss as this. Still the saving effected by preventing it pays for the cost of preventing it. If the husk of the seed be broken, the farina will be dissolved.

There are hand-mills of different sizes for bruising grain. Beans are seldom submitted to the process. Horses are not so apt to swallow the entire beans; yet some do, especially those having bad teeth. There are mills for bruising beans, [also for grinding corn with the cob, oats, and other small grain].

In this town the grain is generally bruised at the public mills. But when only three or four horses are kept, it is better to have the bruising performed at home. The bruised grain rapidly absorbs moisture and becomes musty. A hand-mill furnishes it always fresh, enough for only one or two days should be prepared at a time. [In the drier climate of America, meal will keep sweet for weeks or months.]

Bruised grain mixes readily with chaff, and it saves an old horse some trouble. It has little more to recommend it. If the horses be young, the addition of chaff will compel them to do that which is done by the mill, and they are able enough to do it. But when chaff is not used, the grain should be bruised for all kinds of horses.

Grinding the grain has been recommended for facilitating its digestion; but whether it be more rapidly digested, 01 whether it be right to make it so, is yet unknown. When ground grain is given without admixture, the horse appears to have some difficulty in managing it. The meal requires much saliva, but very little mastication. The secretion of saliva is stimulated, and its supply regulated by the act of mastication. Hence the food that requires the most moisture, should also require the most mastication. With ground grain this order is reversed, the horse fills his mouth with flour too dry to swallow, and too fine to produce saliva. He always requires more time to consume a pound of oatmeal than a pound of oats; and many will not, or can not eat a whole feed of it. When put into the manger in a heap, the broken husks run down the sides and accumulate; the portion having most of the husk is eaten before the flour; this shows which the horse likes best. Flour or meal, however, is a useful addition to boiled food; and when given with chaff it may be better than alone.

Grinding, I believe, is always performed at the meal-mills. When the grain is soft or new, it is previously dried or baked. The husks are not separated from the meal.