Southern standard. (McMinnville, Tenn.) 1879-current, 1885-10-24
Improved Horses.
Rural and Stockman,

IN one OF our exchanges writer III
reference to the ease and slight cost
at which our horses may be improv-
ed, says that some yet stick to the
"old scrub breed of horses, that is,
what is left Of them" The inference
is that the scrub horse is pretty nearly
a thing of the past. Unfortunately
that is a serious error, though one
that is entertained by many. AS a
matter of fact the enthusiast is apt to
be discouraged when he thinks of the
years that we have been breeding and
pushing pure-bred stock in this coun-
try, and yet to find so many of the
scrub races remaining. But there is
no reason for Encouragement. This
is a large country and the people can
not be reached and convinced in a
day or year or in fact several years.
The work of replacing hescrub with
better breeds is going steadily on,
and sometime the scrub will be a
thing of the past. But if we lose
sight of the fact that many thousands
are yet to be educated up to an APP
probation of the value of pure bred
stock, we shall deal direct blow at
the interests of breeders and the in
terests of the public. We have re-
ceived letters at this Office within six
months, asking if the breeding of
pure bred stock had been shown to be
a success where it had been tried.
Such a letter would astonish many a
man whose life has been spent among
such stock. But we were not aston
ished. We are ourselves ignorant of
enough that is perfectly familiar to
others, and very ordinary matter
with them, not to hold up our hands
in horror because somebody does not
happen to know what is as plain and
familiar to us as the sun in the heav-
ems. We fully realize the necessity
and duty of preaching the superiority
of pure breds over common stock, and
when we get through the work, there
will still be plenty of it to do by those
who shall come after us. We have
tried to show and we shall continue
to try to show thatit is to every mans
interest to breed up his stock, and
that he will never make his farming
operations as profitable as they may
be until he does. -.
So far as horses are concerned, there
are large sections of country in which
there is not single good horse. We
do not know that there is any more
backwardness in breeding up the
horses of the country, than there is in
breeding up other stock, but to say
the least there is quite as much. We
have attended county fairs in which
the display of horses did not show q
single one that was worth having, il
we took into consideration that there
were horses to be had that were
greatly superior. The subject O
horse breeding is one that the. Rura
and Stockman has often cited as one
of the mysteries in that there is such
extreme carelessness about it. There
is ready sale for good horses of any
kind. Bring good horse to the mar
ket and he is snapped up quickly
Sitting at a window in the city anC
looking upon the teams that pas
scarcely a poor horse will be seen be
longing to any prominent business es
tablishment. Even the horse cal
lines which have the reputation
among those who do not know, o
having poor horses, have nothing but
good horses on them. And in view
of this steady demand forgood horses
and the fact that there are so many
poor horses that will eventually bC
replaced with good horses, we have
said to our farmers, "cannot you SEE
your interests lie in breeding up%
We have urged every farmer whom
we could reach, who has not giver
the matter attention, to enter upor
the work, and either buy a full-blOod
ed horse or secure the services of one
and to be sure that he was all that HI
was claimed to be. In order to pro
tect the farmer we would have every
State enact stringent laws for the pun
ishment of anybody who was con
scienceless enough to stand scruI
horse under the pretense that he wa
full blood. And as to breed, as W,
said in recent issue, that will de
pend upon what the horse is wanted
for. But as business the breedin,
of any of the improved breeds will
prove profitable.
The draft breeds have become very