Notes on Stable Management in India and the Colonies

Excerpt

FOOD.

(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 class gram. Good gram, when a small quantity 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 quantity 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....