Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1873-11-13
How Tro,ters are Bred.
THE VERMONT HORSE sTooK COMPANY
4 DESCRIPTION OF THEIR FARM AND
STOCK AT sHRLBURN. 5siToaTa1 -s56g f

progress and decadence of the various
manias that have, within a generation,
swept over the staid and sober farmers
of Vermont. None of these ever. held
SO large share of attention and capital
as those ,gummy and wrinkled wool.
bearers, the merines. Though they are
not wholly gone from among us, yet
they have given way to the Devon,
Ayrshire, Holstein and other breeds of
improved stock. At intervals different
crop interests have taken attention
for a time, and there are few farm
ers who have not, at one time or anoth-
er, been bitten with the bean mania, or
the Alsike clover mania, or the Norway
oats mania, or the tobacco mania, or the
onion mania, or the breeding of fine
fowls, or the raising of some fancy
breed of potatoes-seed five dollars per
pound-or some like vagary. During
all this time the only business that has
kept on the even tenor of its way, with
out eleyating itself by elap-trap, and
equally without sinking out of sight from
neglect, has been the breeding of fine
horses. From the days Of the Clifford
Morgan down through the blood of the
Morrill, horse and HilFs Black Hawk,
Vermont has always held the high honor
of producing more fine horses than any
other State in the Union, excepting on
ly the racers of Kentucky. Within a
few years the business of raising horses
has received something like the scientif-
ic attention it deserved, and as con-
sequence the best stock has been sought
for to breed from, and the keeping of
fine horses forstoek has been induced.
Some three years ago some gentlemen
from different parts of the State, appre-
ciating the necessities of the times OBJ
tanned charter from the Legislature
for "The Vermont Horse Stock Com
pany, and after some inspection settled
upon location in the town of Shelburn
as possessing in large degree the quail
tiles of soil, water and grass, and the
best location to be found. Two years
and half ago the association began
work on the farm and they have con-
tinued it from that time till now. What
has been done up to the present time
may be learned from the following ex-
perienee of a gentleman who called
upon the superintendent few days ago:
The farm, as before stated, lies about u
mile from the village and depot of Shell
burn, in southerly direction. 1t COM
| prises about 425 acres, laid something in
the form of square. This tract for
merly belonged to the Ezra Mech farm.
1t is divided into something like $50
! acres of meadow, 80 of woodland and
225 of pasture. The soil is mainly a
loan and in some parts has clayey ten
dency. The water supply for the use
of the buildings is gained from a fine
clear spring on an elevation to the west
of the house, from which fall of Is
or 90 feet can be had, enough to carry
the water into every yard and barn,
There are three houses on the place
for the use of the superintendent and
his help; but it is easy to see by COM
pairing these with the barns that man is
of comparatively little account on a
stock farm. Only one barn remains
from the old management, and that is
large hay barn used mostly for storage,
and having a line of sheds used for colts
in winter. The main barn erected by
the company is wonderfully well planned
| for its purpose. 1t stands at the north
side of the enclosure facing west on the
road. 1t is t00x60 feet in the main and
has attached row of stables in one
story, 100x20 The basement has "a
stalls for horses and is perfectly dry and
airy, owing to the perfect drainage.
! The first floor, with the extension before
| named, % stalls all boxes. Besides these
are large granares, a Target loft for hay, and
| room for wagons, etc. Directly south
across a large and finely kept yard is
! found the office and harness-room, COM
! prising in addition to these particulars,
| considerable shed room for visitors
horses. To the east of the Office are
found the stallion barn and paddocks.
The barn is 50x20, and is divided into
four box stalls, with large paddock
for each two. The fences here are ten
feet high, and stout, as indeed they have
sometimes need of being. Here is also
grain room and q hay ~, of consid-
cradle capacity. Beside fhe large yard
there are four small yards, well enclosed
and used to show stock andto give them
air and exercise.
Another. improvement upon the old
place is the track, which has been laid
cut to the west of the barns, and with a
convenient road leading up to.it. The
place selected had considerable slope, al
though the grading has been i'll the main
well done, yet there is still a bad spot
on the last turn, which prevents the
track from being very fast. In the
fashion of laying out, as well as in the.
soil, this track is almost an exact coun-
terpart of the one at Barre. 1t is, OF
course, half mile, there being no mile
| track in the State that the writer knows
| of.
There are at the present eighty-one
head of horses on the farm, of which
the company owns forty-six head, and
the remainder are from various parts of
the country, either on the farm for pas
turage or being trained for the track by
MIR. Predmore. The chief interest
is naturally in the stallion
barn, and especially in Wood
burn Pilot This. is one of. the
most beautiful 'Hbig horses in the coun-
try, being coal black with fine name
and tail, sixteen hands high and weigh
ing about 1900 pounds. He was foaled
in 1865 and was got by R. A. Alexand-
ers Pilot Jr., his dam being by Clay's
Mambrino Chief, the sire of Lady
1 y. - u.