Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1874-01-09
A HUNDRED YEARS PROGRESS
IN FARMING.
ny Charles 4. Flint, Secretary OF tho Mas
sachusetts Board OF Agriculture.


Whether the horse has actually undergone
any improvement or not may admit of some
question, but IL is certain that the horses of
this country have been greatly improved
within the present century. The chief
means Of carrying on our inland commerce,
including large amount Of heavy teaming
and transportation, was the horse. The
public roads were bad, worse even than they
are at the present day, and over these the
freight Of the country, whatever it was, had
to be moved in wagons made to be capable
OF the hardest usage. The modern light
carriage would have been comparatively
useless in new country and over such
roads, while a speed now seen every day
would have been quite unsafe. The mail
contracts, even over very large part of the
country, when the post system was instituted,
were based on a speed below four and five
miles per hour But there were no mails
previous to 1890; and in 1871, the first
year Of the mall-service, there were but
eighty.ninc post Offices in the whole country,
and less than two thousand miles Of post
roads, and on these nine-tenths Of the mail
service was done on horseback, the stage
service being very small
1t will thus be seen that the social condi.
tions of the last century were not favorable
to the improvement of the horse certainly
not to increase his speed, now considered
indispensable. Fast trotting was scarcely
known at the time of the old Justin Nor
gam" foaled in 1898, nor was speed estimat-
ed as of special money value till the inven-
ton of the modern light buggy and the i'm.
provcmeut of roads, but this quality has now
come to DO essential to the comfort and con.
venience of all classes Of people. In this
respect there can be no question that great
increase has been attained by careful breed.
ing, especially within the last thirty years
while much greater attention has been paid
to style, action, temper, form, constitution,
and endurance, so that the aggregate money
value Of our horses has been enhanced by
the higher general average of intrinsic good
qualities.
These improvements are largely due, no
doubt, to the frequent importation and in.
fusion Of thoroughbred blood into our stock
In some sections of the country at the South
and the Southwest they may be said to be
almost wholly due to this source. But in
the New England States, and to no small
extent in the Middle and Western States
they are due to the influence of two great
classes of horses, both very celebrated road
sters, known as the MOrgans and the Black,
hawks, the former deriving their origin from
the old justin Morgan remarkable fol
compactness Of form, strength, and dOcility
and unsurpassed for general utility; the
latter excellent as roadsters, Of high anC
nervous style Of action, wonderfully elasti,
step, and symmetrical and muscular form
These two families Of horses have added
many millions Of dollars TO the value of tn,
stock They infused new spirit into thu
whole business of horse breeding, and CAV,
us such a reputation for great success in thi
direction as to lead Professor Law, OF Scot
land, in his " History of Domestic Animals,
to say Of us They prefer the trot to thu
PAGES more admired in the old continent
and having directed attention to the cOufor
nation which consists with this character
the fastest trotting horses in the world are
to be found in the United States"
But the draught horse has not been neg
lected. The Conostoga, large and heav.
breed of horses, used mostly fol the purpose
of slow work in the drays Of our large town
and cities, is extensively raised in some part
of the Middle States, while the Percheron ha
more recently been introduced and bred il
some parts of the West.
The number Of horses in this country, &C
cording to the last census, was S,690,2l9, O
which 7,142,S49 were on farms, and tn
balance found in cities and large towns
This was gain of more than a million i
ten years, for, in 1860, the total numbe
was reported as 7,434 ,6SS, of which 6,249
ia were upon farms. The number on farm
in 1850 was 4,336,7l9, there having bee
no effort made to ascertain the number no
kept on farms,
1t will thus be seen that the capital il
vested in horses constitutes large item i
our national wealth and to this should b
added more than u million OF mules and asses
the number returned in the census of 1877
being l,125,4l5. The extent of our d
pendence upon this class Of stock was nevC
more completely realized than during til
prevalence Of the cpizootic Of last yea
when the infinitely varied transactions of Il
country, social manufacturing and con
mercial, were 50 nearly brought to stan(
still for the want of the services of Il
horse.
Incre asing Intelligence.
This brief sketch Of the rise and grow
of the great agricultural interests Of Il
country, involving such vast amounts of ca
! ital, giving employment and bread to my
lads of men, and producing annually Il
incredible income Of more than $2, 447 ,53e
$50, would be incomplete without an allusic
to the increase of intelligence, and the pa
which science has taken in bringing abO
: such magnificent results.
have already referred to the early q
tempts at associated effort and the growth
s agricultural societies. Few and feeble
first, and slow in the growth of their inf
ence among the people, they have now