The Sully County watchman. (Clifton, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1894, 1893-02-17

energy, nerve lOTCe anu muscular
power, that it requires to trot fast,
employed in another direction, /
think that the largest and strongest
If the draft breed would have to bow
before the prowess of our American
trotter.
Only last September, at our tri-
county fair, held at Newark, Mo-, a
gentleman owning a large imported
Norman stallion, and desiring to
show him in the draft ring, discovered
that there was no other draft stallion
on the ground, and, wishing to re-
ceive full first premium on his horse,
prevailed upon the owner of trotting-
bred stallion Ia son of Nihilist lS47
to enter and show against his i'm
ported horse, telling him that he
would run no risk of losing his en-
trance money, as there would be but
two entries. When the ribbons were
tied the imported Norman wore Sec
ond premium out of that show ring,
while the noble representative of ad-
vanced ideas in breeding pranced
proudly out with the first.
When l make the claim that the
American trotting horse can pull
more weight and do it quicker than
any of the draft breeds, making al
lowance for too much disparity in
size and weight, l know whereof /
speak. The trotting mare Highland
Maid once, on a wager, pulled 1000
pounds a full mile inside the 800
mark-a feat never accomplished or
even approached by any other breed
of horses. l know that the breed is
not degenerating. The records show
that vast improvement is now and
has been taking place for many years
in the breeding of trotting horses.
Any man who will study the question
with care will at once discover where
the money is to be made. All he has
to do is to consult the dozen or so
sale lists of trotting-bred horses that
take place in the United States every
year and compare the prices there
obtained with the prices obtainable
for stock of the draft and other
breeds, and he will see that trotters
sell for more money than any other
class Of horses. / once heard an ad-
vocate of the draft horse breed claim
that 81 per pound was often realized
for draft horses, but if my friend
would figure on the weight of Axtell,
PIP, who sold for S105,0 Nancy
Hanks 2:94, who sold for $4,000; Sun
oil 2:O84, who sold for $4,000: Anteo
2:l64, who sold for 100000; Allerton
2:O94, for whom Sl50,OOO was refused,
and Arion 2:102, who was purchased
at $3.50, 900, / rather think the result
would astonish him; and then the
beauty of the thing is that any per-
son stands a chance Of getting a
"cracker iack"--in fact, most of the
faster and more valuable trotters
have been bred by men of small means,
and, while some of them were sold
for small sums at first hands, yet they
brought fortunes to the men who
bred and reared them. Dexter 2:174
was sold by Jonathan Hawkins for a
very small sum- think about $500
but the reputation he gave to Haw-
kins as a breeder was valuable and he
is now a wealthy man. Mr.. Conklin,
the breeder of Rarus 2:134, realized
S36, 900 for him, and he was a small
farmer who made stock-raising mere
ly side issue.
In order to raise the best it is
necessary to breed to the best, and
the man who permits few paltry
dollars in the price of service fee to
control his selection of a breeding
stallion is making mistake.
1t is advisable to breed within the
standard, where it is possible to do
so, but it is better to patronize the
most inferior of our American bred
trotting horses, than to fool away
time and throw away money on the
imported mongrels, for by the law of
atayism the trotter may breed back
and produce you very high class
foal, while by the same law or rule
Of breeding, the mongrel, when
crossed onto our common mares will
get you long, leggy, corn crib OF an
animal, worth probably S35 or $40
when fully matured.
OF course, if our farmers had pure
bred draft mares, it would then be
advisable to breed them to pure bred
draft stations for the produce would
be draft horse and be valuable.
But when it comes to crossing our
common farm mares onto big, flabby
stations of the Norman, Clyde, Shire
or any other draft breed, the result
will be disappointing, for the produce
will have no value either as a draft
horse, roadster or horse of all work.
Ac have often heard one OF our