Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1886-10-01
ADVICE TO VERMONT BREEDERS
oRATuITous, BUT VALUABLE.

ADVICE TO VERMONT BREEDERS.
oRATUlTous, BUT VALUABLE.
A heavy debt of gratitude is due from
Vermont breeders to "A. +. Co." the able
reporter of the Mirror and Farmer. for the
instruction with which he has kindly in
terlarded his report of our State fair for
their benefit Indeed it is not too much
to say that information seems to ooze
out Of this gentleman "as naturally as
the otter of roses exudes from the otter.
Some of his facts are not only novel, but
startling, such as his discovery of a
''colt," "six years old, ""by Ira Allen by
Flying Morgan;" it having been hther
to supposed that this Ira Allen died some
thing over twenty year ago; or his an
nouncement 81 find on all sides. notice
ably today in view of the fact that last
evening Senator Edmunds delivered an
address under the auspices of the agri-
cultural societies, that great satisfaction
exists because the leader of the L. 5.
Senate has been returned and will repre-
sent this State for the next six years"
These are facts of which. but for a. +.
c., this community would have remain
ed ignorant. Moreover, these "chunks
of wisdom" come to us cOuched in liter
airy style certainly as unique as it is ele
CANT as will more fully appear from the
following random extracts: "a son of
Waikiki Chief is he and his mother was
daughter of Harris Hambetonian. \
fine neck and head this horse has ana
otherwise he is well pointed" 1.-The
colt Enthusiastically evinces his lineage in
his gait, especially behind, trotting long
and wide and easy. The colt stands II 81
hands, weighs 732 pounds, will make,
probably, a bay colored animal, and is
handsomely turned. The judges attach
ed the first premium ribbon to his bride,
and the colt, with the intelligence which
characterized his grandfather. seemed to
understand that he was especially hon
ored and carried himself proudly. al
though with becoming modcsty. when
gazed upon by the curious crowd" 1t is
proper to state that this yOungster which
showed such promise of developing into
"a bay cOlored ANIMAL" and which. by
his very proper and decorous conduct.
won the distinguished approval of \. +.
c. is the son of a horse owned by the ed
itor of the Mirror and Farmer.
We now come to the dark and dismal
picture of the condition into which Yer
mont. as a horse-breeding State, has I'M
Willingly fallen for lack of the inspired
counsels of \. +. c. and his like. We
should present this sad spectacle with
greater sorrow and reluctance but for
the fact that our critic generously turns
counselor and, while he spares not to
show Us our deplorable situation. gener-
ously points out an avenue of escape:
Vermont has moved slow of late years
III selling upon the popular strains of
equine blood The sister States about
her have left her far behind in the con-
test for supremacy. In fact. she has
seemed rather Indifferent than otherwise
about possessing horses related to the
noble families of to-day, clinging tena-
ciously (and foOlishly it must be said by
every intelligent horseman) to represent
tatives of the past, which. at their best.
never were worthy to unloOse the shoes
of stock like the Wikeses Happy Mediums
and Almonts. The pronounced success
which has come to Maine within several
years, together with other causes (the
Mirrors influence | find having a most
stimulating effect among the thousands
who read it in this State), have served to
turn the attention of breeders here out of
old places Of vision and make them brush
the dust of prejudice and ignorance from
their antique blue-glass spectacles. and
see things in horse lines as their enter
priSing brethren in Kentucky and Maine
and Massachusetts behold them. Last
night, in illustration of this point. sat
at table with gentleman who has for
years been breeder in this State, but
deVoting his energies to rather inferior
strains. Conversation being opened rel
alive to the trotS of the day. talk turned
upon horses, and he announced that he
was on his way to Albany, New York, to
negotiate for Wilkes stallion, admitting
that he saw how intensely this stock was
booming and believing that it would in
crease rather than diminish He turned
out to be Mirror subscriber and had. he
said, been converted to modern blood
through its teachings.
Words like these, from a gentleman
who sits at table in illustration of a
point, and who halls from the ''sister
State" of New Hampshire, that has left
Vermont so star behind in the contest
for supremacy" as hOrse-breeding State,
seem severe, though doubtless meant for
our good. But what chiefly strikes one
after all is not the severity of the crit-
cism, nor yet the force and elegance
with which it is expressed, but rather
the startling novelty of the proposition
upon which it is founded. The truth APP
pears to be that we have fallen into this
frightful condition without knowing it,