Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1888-03-06
oxFoRp HORSE TALK.


Communication. FOE this department should
| d addressed "a A. 7. MAnta, suuih Paris. Ne.
Mr.. Nelson's Theory Discussed.-
More Bear" County Horses.
In the las, issue Of the f.s-is,on Jour.
nal the noted horemsn. &. II. Nelson. Of
waisyille. give. hs IDEAS on breeding
the ifo,,sr The often quoted expression
that horse. breeding is lottery b. no
place Ia Mr. Nelson's theory. lie says
thu, treediog uo,,rs !. not matter OF
luck. bat !, easy enough n one knows
ho. and has the nsh, goods TO begin
wth We have al~Ays noticed that
when . man meets With large measure
of suees. in . certain bu,in,. be Is sp,
20 a,eribe hi, suecs. 10 hl. shrrwd aud
.As.eioas management, while the msn
VITO meets ~i,h failures attributes |, all
20 luck.
Mr.. Nsl,oa h. e,r,.inly been very
successful ia prolaeing noted performers.
and hi. ids. a, TO the bs,, way OF pro-
daeing them .re Of the be,, aud are en-
titled TO e0n,idera,ioa, bat when in re.
ply TO the question, wh., percentage Of
$50 performers DO you expect TO pro-
dues. he answers. barring accidents.
can produce 30 per cent, he seems TO W
to be /. little too ,Angaine. for none OF
the srs., breeders Of the country have
ys, been able to produce even 20 per e-n'.
Of $50 uo,,sr'. and they have had no
lack of the best material TO do Il With.
Mr.. Nelson counsel. the intending
breeder TO obtain youns hllis, sired by the
be., speed producing s,allion' and out
Of we'll bred mare. ths, have been speedy
bu, are nov played out. bu, a. the same
time be would prefer mafe no, fashion
.bly bred ,h., bad produced speed, to
one of . more fashionable breed that u
un,risd. lie also advises the young
breeder 10 be sure and breed 10 s,Alllon'
tia, are possessed Of size. style and sound
ns.,. together With their speed and high
breeding.
We think thu, one Of ,h. reasons OF
the large percentage Of troiiers produced
by Mr. Nelson lies In the fact OF hi. be.
ins . tif,i.el.. handler of horse. himself
aud possessed Of good judsmen, IN regard
10 boz .nd when to ,roi them, aud not
b,ias obliged TO dsPend upon dishonest
jockey, 10 ir.ln them.
Apropo. 10 the .abies, Of breeding We
clip irom the American Culuv.ior some
sensible rcmAiksi
The question upPsrmo., in the minds
Of the average q young Northern breed
er. q, ihi. season !. the selection OF stall
loo. With which they can mate their
brood mares Nth the sure,i Pfo'Pee; Of
profitable returns. 10 the novice this
may appear a very simple problem, ba'
al sh1 have studied the ,uhjsc, carefully.
-ill agree that the number Of points 10
be considered readers the question very
complex oae To the breeder, whose on-
ly obj,et /, to ob,sia q record bre.ksf re.
s.rdls., q expense, !, !, very different.
ho-s'er
The mos, valuable attribute ,ha, .
horse can possess. OF the one =, least
~hieh will command the mos, monsy. i'
speed, combined With .ghieisn, courage
and snduranes to &c, 10 the wire little
IN advance Of ell leomPeii,ors The young
breeder Who hs. carefully studied the
question, however. has doubles. been
surprised q, the small percentage OF fast
uouer 70, by the average standard bred
tro,,ins stallion aud .iill more aston.
i.ked 10 learn that only small proper.
ton Of the fs., ons' possess all the rtqai-
site. Of fsse horses or srea, esmp,igners.
Thi. /, one Of the ff,, lsnon' that the
average farmer who has decided To breed
horses for profit should master lie will
learn from IL that II he succeeds in pro
daeins three f.., ,ro,tsr, from every 100
fo.l. he will fare better than most breed.
er have ye, done.
From thi, IL /. plsin that the profits
~ill depend largely upon the character OF
the nineiy..sy.n animal. that are not up
10 the standard as turf performers. IL
these are sound snd kind. no, Objection
able in color aud marking, stand from
1870 l6 hands. with good style, LOFTY
carriage. and ATE spirited drivers, they
will sell from $3.50 TO $500 each. Prob
ably $500 or $500 will be fair average
when i've years old. Estimating the av.
,rase value Of these 81 $500 each. and
Of the three fas, ones q, $500 apiece.
th, aggregate value Of the 100 animal.
will be s33. 600.
Should the nine,y..eyen prove 10 be
earby hooked. Oek.kneed. dull me,,lsd
animals. lacking in style. deficient IN
road Qualities, and standing only from
Ii2to IS | hand. in height, IL will be
hard fading cash customers ., any price.
aud they will probably no, average the
breeder more than 500 or el25 per
head a, most. Now. admitting that the
three fast ones in ,hi. lot ATE worth $4,000
each. t,tims,ius the nine,y.ss'en a. sl25
apiece. i, will bring the aggregate price
at sl2,i25 plu. $4,000 equals 81, l,i25.
which /. .bJut sl2 900 les. than the s'-
tim.,e Of the 10, in which siE', style and
road qu.li,is. are he leading character
l.lies.
While speed and quality are the mos,
valuable attributes that horse can pos
sees. size. style. dOcili,y and excellent
road qualities, eombinsd With .oundsss',
must not be Lost sight Of by Northern
breeders. Thee ar. ell hereditary quail
i,ie,, and in order TO secure them !, will
be necessary to obtain mares from such
families t. have produced them With The
greatest uniformity, and mate them with
stations from families 10 which these
qualitie. were fixed characteristics.
Thi, seems simple enough. but in order
u increase the ehsnces Of success. II IL
necessary to z, . step farther and get
such msns a. srs by stations ths, have
shown a capacity TO proiace speed. OF II
no, old enougt for that. they (,he ssl.
lion.) should be by sirss th., have either
shown their ability to ,rot fast, or pro-
daee speed, or both. The chances will
be .,ill further increased II the animals
are from dams which have produced -in-