The Newtown bee., 1894-12-21
Live Farm Topics,
HoRsE-BREEDMa FOR PROFIT
 THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.

farmer seems 70 nave sIully nle snare. Look which way he may, he finds prices depressed for everything he c&n produce, and as If this were not enough, the greater portion of the country has been subjected to extreme drouth for two suc- cessive years. What the future has in store no one can predict, but conditions can scarcely De more depressing, and the natural expression of opinion is that we have seen the worst. and from this time on Improvement will be the order.
 The farmer that for the past few years has been breeding horses, finds this branch of busipess depressed beyond any conception he could have formed i've years ago. Many causes have contri- buted to this beyond the general busi- ness panic. In the first place, the pro- duction has far exceeded the demand even under normal conditions. The craze for breeding tfotters that swept over the country drew into the business hundreds that should have employed their talents in some other line. Not one small breeder In . hundred produced an animal above the ordinary,an elec- tlicity has 90 largely superseded horses as . motive power that there is practical ly no market for ordinary horses.
 Again, the bicycle has greatly reduced the demand for family or general driv- ing horses, 90 that at present the heavy draft horse for labor in the cities and the high-class driving horse that shall please the fastidious man of wealth offer about the only markets in sight for the small breeder. <
 True, race horses, that can earn mon- ey, are in demand at remunerative prices; but the experience of the past must have convinced all that farmer has as much chance to draw the capital prize in lottery as to breed trotter fast enough to win money under the present requirements of extreme speed. 7 That no field is left for the small breeder, I am not prepared to admit however. Indeed, In my opinion there is very profitable, 6eld that small breeders with a natural aptitude for the business can supply with more than or dinary profit. Since the trotting sales held recently in New York, breeders have felt encouraged, for prices were much better than last year, and much better than the most sanguine had dared to hope. The stcck consignsd, however, was of very high class, and without doubt the horses sold during tho i've days from October 30 to Novembsr , would, three years ago, have brought prices aggrsgsting s1, ,00o, 900. jt.
 Tho production of race horses, how ever, even of tho highest typs, is great .. than the corresponding earning capac- fly, and the small breeder must turn to some type where the supply is moro limited and tho ehances for success are greater. have long held that no one can excel the small breeder In producing good stock if he.,is the right man. The large breeder must leave the details of his work to others He may plan, bat rarely will he flad the actual work per. formed as he would perform 1t or wish 1t performed. In the matter of economy the small breeder has great advantage.
 No expert who attended the recent horse show could fail to notice the great room for improvement in many of the horses. will not refer It length to tue trotter, for think small breeders have had enough of him. 90 far a regards the craze for extreme speed. The average trotting-bred horse is plain, undersize, deficient in substance, and fitted for lit tie else than to draw light (very lixht) vehicle at speed. The number of pleas ure riders that prefer this style of riding is decidedly in tho minority, and yet fol myself think there is no turnout tu compare with handsome pair of trot. ters and neat side-bar top-wagon. x
 The breeder, however, must seek to produce what the market demands, and at present the demand is for horse o1 more substance and size and more action than the. average trotting-bred animal possesses. When I say the average trot. ting bred animaL mean those tracing to the families that have been the most fashionable. Even the great Hambieto. nian had few characteristics that would recommend him to the road rider that
 wanted | fast horse for showy action and handsome conformation. Few ii any of his greatest sons have the neces. sary characterization, and they cannot be expected to impart something foreign to their breeding. I cannot recall any trotting family noted for size and beauty in fact, these two qualities, 20 essential to the perfect horse, have been over looked in the mad rush for speed. To attempt to produce the horse in demand at present. and not have these two char acteristics very prominent, is but to in vite failure. Surely 1t is much more within the capacity of the average breed ar tA rrfsdu0a 1arUe handa..rna horaAs