The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1892-07-28
FARM, FIELD AND GARDEN.
INFORMATION ON MATTERS OF
EREST# TO THE FARMER.
ore eding Saddle Horses--The De-
land for Young Mutton--Pure
Water Necessary toslnsure
Pure Milk--Nariouss
Pointers. B.
Breeding Saddle Horses.

-
We were talking a few days ago with
horse dealer in New York who han
dies fourteen or fifteen thousand
horses every year, and among other
things he said:
There is a growing demand for sad
die horses in the market, but there
isn't one horse in a thousand that
passes for a saddle horse that's wor-
thy OF the name. The great point
about q saddle horse is fine action.
tie wants to be snowy have style.
A.variety OF gaits is, OF course desir-
able, but it's action that counts in
selling him."
u What our friend meant by action"
comprised in reality the entire build
and makeup OF the animal. Carriage
horses have action, too, but they are
constructed on different lines from a,
saddle horse, as an "ocean greyhound"
is built on different lines from a
"freighter."
u But his remarks suggest that here is
q field that farmers who want to
breed for q good market might culti-
vate with profit. The custom Of
riding has received a great impetus in
the North within a few years past. 1t
is coming to be favorite pastime
with both sexes, and q very delight
ful, exhilarating and healthful pas
time tits. Not only in city parks and
on country roads, but "across
country with hounds, in hot pursuit
OF the "aniseseed bag" is this &C.
complishment practiced with zest and
enjoyment. III
Once generally established, this
riding mania is not likely to die out,
IN a hurry, for, although it may have
something OF the fashionable fad"
about it in the minds of some of it's
votaries, it is too deeply grounded in
common sense to be easily relin-
pushed. The man who can raise the
exceptional one in a thousand will,
therefore, not be likely to fail OF his
reward.
A horse, it has been we'll said, will
not make a saddle horse to-day and
a harness horse tomorrow His life
is too short to learn any two things
perfectly, and the means used to
train him for the saddle neutralize
his proficiency for the carriage. But
in fact, the fitness OF a horse for the
saddle antedates any training to
which he may be subjected. Like the
poet he is born, not made. He must
Gomez Of a saddle horse breed.
j A true saddle horse is a peculiar
specimen OF his race. He is, as an en-
thusiastic horse manputs it. 'the en-
.bodiment Of all that is great and
grand in the equine nature-in his
breeding, shape figure, symmetry,
quality, muscle, bone, durability, met
tie, endurance, temper, disposition,
instincts, style, action. intellect and
pluck, all OF which require to be Of
the first order, for he has many things
olearninth space of some five years,
when he must be able to master his
profession before he gets too stiff to
please, The same writer adds, which
every true horseman must heartily
feel: when we occasionally see a
born saddle horse, or the material for
one, wefollow him with covetous eyes,
and wonder if he ever went to school
and if his owner knows what he has
got"
1t does not take many hours watch
ing in the Park to satisfy one that the
numbenkpf born saddle horses in New
York is not large. A good many fair
~ good carriage horses are spoiled in
trying to make riding horses OF them.
perhaps this is unavoidable, SO long
as the supply, like Sam Weller's evils
ion," is limited; but it shows how
large q field is open for those who
know, or will take the pains to learn,
how to breed for the saddle AS we'll as
Tor the carriage, the farm and the race
course.
The Demand for Young Mutton.
We have heard wonder expressed
that fat sheep have enjoyed SO good
an average market for a long time Of
years as compared with other stock,
and that a season in which mutton
making is not profitable is rare cx-
ception. We think q leading reason
for this is that q very large proper
ton Of all the sheep going into con
sumption are marketed quite young.
There are no data available to show
what proportion go to the block at the
age OF one year or under; but it is a
very large proportion, and one which
is constantly increasing. A great per-
centage Of the increase of focks from
year to year is thus cut off from pro-
ducing further increase, and goes at
once into the food supplies ofsthe coun-
try. There is occasionally something
OF an increase in flock totals one year
as compared with another, but the in
crease does not keep pace with the
growth Of population. Another influ-.
ence probably affecting this somewhat
is that while Americans have never
been great consumers of mutton the
appetite for this meat has steadily
grown since the tendency has been
developed to market stock SO young.
Lamb is very largely preferred to
mutton, and lamb has become
staple market article in many places
Where thefesh ofsheep was hardly an
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