The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1876-05-18
NUMRER TWO.
Editor s. Cloud Jossnal:

The following from the Turf, Field
and Form gives in few words, 1T
least one Of the principal reason.
Why The breeding Of horses is sup.
profitable business to. the Western
hrner;' and suggests in equally
brief and pointed terms the course
necessary t. be pursued in order to
make it remunerative:
"Some Of the agricultural journals
are propounding the query, why IL
It that farmers make no money in
raising horsesa' One paper adds
A. = general thing, our Western
farm horses are too small to be either
profitable to the farmer as workers,
or valuable IN the market. Many Of
them scarcely pay the cost Of their
raising, being neither fit for the farm
nor the city; hence, in the market
they command but q nominal price
IN amount insufficient to at. ali pay
their breeding and raising 1t can
be easily demonstrated that the main
reason why farmers, i'm the majority
Of ,nstanQ1P, discover no profit in
breeding horses is due to the n,gKard-
" view which they take of the mat
ter. In selecting q stallion for their
mares the only thing they think
about is the cost ofserviee. They will
breed to miserable brutes, without
form, constitutionor pedigree, in pref
erence to = horse which is in every
respect the opposite Of the mongrel,
simply and solely because . five or =
ten dollar bill is the price of the en-
brace and guarantee to boot. "A
stallion Of acknowledged merit is ig-
nored for no other reason than
that his services are held At from
fifty TO- one hundred dollars. The
farmer never takes into consideration
that a we'll bred colt will always
command his price in the market,
while there is no demand whatever
for the unshapely things begotten by
cheap mongrel sires. The remedy
for the existing evil is not to be found
in the exclusive patronage Of draft
stations, as some of our agricultural
exchanges recommend, but in judic-
ious selection and the use of pedi-
greed sires. 1t is we'll enough to
breed a per cent of draft horses, but
it will not answer to breed draft and
nothing else. We have use for the
light and speedy horse in this coun-
try As we'll as for the ponderous Nor
man and Ciydesdale. 1t is out of the
question for the farmers to make
money in breeding horses unless they
pay attention to the wants OF the age,
and give some thought to ancestry
and the principle Of reproduction.
Their great stumbling-bleck is cheap
stations"
While the "penny wise and pound
foolish fashion limited at in the
above extract is true to a considera.
BILE extent, We are not willing to ad.
NIT it to be the sole cause of the pres.
ent unfavorable state of affairs.
Two other causes of equal import.
ance might be named, as follows
First, in the newly settled portions
Of the West, hereabouts at least, but
few persons have had either time o,
opportunity to consider the subject Of
stock raising in a scientific point Of
view. Second. until very recently
the finer and better class of stations
could not be found nearer than Min.
neapoli. or St. Paul, and hence could
not be employed by those living a.
far distant as St. Cloud without toe
great an outlay of time and money
Now, however, St. Cloud can
boast Of as well-bred stations a. any
place, having both the thoroughbred
and Hambletonian strains; and a.
their services are offered at much low.
er figures than is usual for horses o.
their class, We do not doubt that
many Of our stock raisers will seel
them out, and that in q verv few
years . marked Improvement win b<
Observable in the general service
horses OF the State. x. i