St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-05-18

| f1eldS Berthune, son OF Sid yHamet by
American Eclipse; third dam by RATHER.
son of Sir Archy by imp. Diomed; fourth
| dam by imp. Spread Eagle. Railroad is a
black horse of substance, symmetry and
STYLE Hewas fashioned for trotter and
would undoubtedly have made his mark on
the turf had his wind not been affected by a
very severe attack of pink eye. He is now
getting a reasonable show in the stud, and
judged by the great promise of some of his
get, among which is the yearling colt Paul,
to which | shall refer further along, will, |
think, bring added fame to Elysian.
1.-THE other candidate for future stud honors
at Elysian is VeteSse, a two-year-old. He
is by Gambetta liza, son of VOLUNTEER 55;
first dam Senta, by Thorndale 305, son OF
Abdallah Is; second dam by Ash
land Chief 751, son of Mambrino
Chief IL; third dam Lady Patriot,
the dam of Volunteer IS, and Sentinel $50,
record 2:29sz. Vetesse is colt of great
substance, short strong body, extra good
limbs and feet, great propelling power, and
handsome and intelligent head In his
general conformation Vetesse very closely
resembles Won Armin 1647, by Sentinel,
record 2:19L, a great favorite of mine, and
1 expect to see him do equally well as a
NAAeeAANO3
successful in the stud.
The limits of this letter will only allow
passing notice of
THE OTHER STOCK
at Elysian Mr.. De Graft is bereding two
families of Short Horns, the Bates and the
Scotch. At the head of the first named
stands the celebrated Duchess bull 18th
Duke of Hillhurst, and of the latter imp.
Baron Surmise, while King of the Prairie
1881, is monarch of the Attorney harem.
His cows are all pure bred, many of them
prize winners and noted for their grand
proportions and excellent qualities. In the
line of sheep, MI. De Graft breeds the
SOuthdowns, his rams being from Lord
Walsingham's herd, and ewes from Webb's,
either imported or from imported stock,
while his swine are pure bred Berkshires.
Having thus briefly described Mr.. De
Graft farm and the character of his breed
ing operations, will return to his system
of caring for the same and as discussion of
his practice has been made mainly withref-
erence to Responsibility in the care of blooded
brood mares and their progeny, will con-
fine myself to this branch of his breeding
operations, merely promising that what shall
be said with reference to this class can be
cattle. In the timber mentioned above Mr..
De Graft has his much talked-of open sheds.
There are three of them located in different
portions of the timber. They stand upon
elevated points of land, sloping to the
south, one being for brood mares, another
for the colts and fillies, and still another
for the cattle. A description of the shed
for the brood mares will answer for all. 1t
is a two-story affair, looking from any other
direction than the south like substantial
horse and hay stable. Passing to its south
front, however, it is found to be ''wide
open" institution: that is, one-half the front,
the center half, has no doors Oh other con-
trivance for shutting out the wind or cold.
Around the inclosed sides are hay-feeding
racks, fed from the second story, which is
large hay loft. The structure has nc
made floor or stalls, simply the earth, which
is covered daily during the winter with
fresh oat straw to the depth of foot OF
more, and the animals come in and go out al
will. Outside the shed are also feeding
racks, kept constantly supplied with an
abundance of hay, while a bountiful sup
ply of fresh water is furnished by means OF
pumps and troughs. sa
SUCH ARE THE SHEDS
and their appliances and now will de
scribe how Mr.. De Graft utilizes them in the
care of his stock. In the spring, when a
brood mare is believed to be safe in foal,
and her foal, if she have one, is removed
from the paddock into which she had been
turned after foaling, into some one of the
many bluegrass pastures, being changed
around as the condition of the grass seems tc
make necessary or desirable. In September
the mares and foals are separated, the mares
being turned into the lot with the open sheds
for their accommodation, and the colts and
fillies into that set apart for them. Here
the animals are given all the well-cured,
sweet hay they want, plenty of good straw
to lie on at night, are watered regularly and
have unchecked runs of the field or timber.
Just this and nothing more They are moi
taken up during the entire winter, are not
fed a bit of grain, nor do they receive any
personal care in the way of grooming, etc.
In the spring, some ten days before they
are due to foal, they are taken up, kept il
box stalls at night, given the run of pad
docks during the day, when the weather is
not too boisterOus, and fed small quantity
of grain. This course of treatment is fol
few days after fOaling, when the mare and
foal are turned into large pasture adjoin-
ing the stables, where they are under the
eye of the proprietor OF his assistants, being
taken up at night Here they remain until
considered safe in foal again, when the
''wide open" system, as explained above,
is again resumed.
During my visit I carefully examined
some fifty head of old and young animals
that had been subjected to this treatment
a year ago. About half were brood mares,
of which ten had foals at their sides, the
others being due to foal from day to day fol-
month to come. These mares I assert
were in the best of condition for mother
hood There was not a sick or ailing
animal among them; their eyes were bright:
their skins were soft and oily; they moved
with spirit and vigor-in fact everything
about them indicated perfect health and full
bodily and functional vigOr. Not mare
had slipped her foal or suffered any misfOr-
tune in fOaling, while the ten f0als were all
straight on their limbs and were strong and
full of life. The oldest Of the ten, not five
weeks old, bay colt by Alexander, dam
Drift, by Alcalde 103, son of Mambrino
Chief II. is as growthy, substantial and
handsome a sucking as I ever saw, one
that it would trouble the breeders of the
famous blue grass region of Kentucky to
equal, let alone excel.
Going still further in my investigations
had the fourteen head of yearlings Mr.. De
Graft contributes to the public sale of Min
nesota breeders, at Midway park, st. Paul,
Wednesday, June 10 next, led out one by
one for inspection. These colts and
FLIES had been subjected to the
same freezing process in the wombs
Of their dams, as Mr.. Grattan puts it, as
the foals of this year to which 1 have al
luded above. They are not of course all
built in the same pattern, vary in size, and
do not all possess the same point of excel
lence and promise, but | am confident /
affirm correctly when say they are an ex-
ira fine lot-a lot that would do credit to
any breeding farm in the country, / care not
how large, how famous for its sires and
Il 4aI Hoo ~,