St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1894-08-09
Aaisrruanu.
A WoMAN'S HORSE RANCH.

ndHuSOIue d dS CNSI (dI llCO q
saddle or wore harness. The ami
NAL was presented to me by Miss
Kitty c. Wilkins, the famous dealer
in horses and cattle in Idaho. Those
who have never met Miss Wilkins
might be led to suppose from the
nature of her occupation that she
was Of the muscular and masculine
type of womanhood, but nothing
could be farther from the truth. She
is simply a typical American woman,
of about thirty years, who has had
good deal of business experience,
and is able to take care ofherself and
her interests in the wide world with
out the assistance of masculine
brains to plan for her.
Miss Wilkins is tall, 1.-THE, and
graceful in physique She impresses
one as being a woman of culture and
refinement. In her deep blue eyes
may be seen the secret of her success
and the key to her whole character.
She has none of that cold, defiant
stare that frequently characterizes
business women, but on the contra
~, her eyes beam with that gentle
ness so becoming to a woman, and
at the same time there is a hrmneSS
of purpose and evident self-conhdence
in her own ability and judgment that
put one tease in her presence. In con-
versation she is interesting and
practical. There appears to be no
department of the horse-raising bus
mess that she does not thoroughly
understand.
''In talking to me about her bust
ness, she said that at the present she
had about 5000 horses on her
range. Her stock OF colts this year
is one of the finest that she had ever
had the luck to bring up. The Win
ter was ar easy one, and the mares
came through in excellent condition.
I'VE never feed our horses anything,
you know she said.
What breed of horses do you
raise p l asked.
81 have several breeds. The
Hambletonians, Clydes, French
draft, Copper Bottoms, Mambrinos.
Kentucky Whips, and some others.
| have been trying for some time to
get hold of pure strain of the old
Morgan stock. Do you know, be-
lieve there was one of the very best
strains of horses that has ever been
bred in this country, but l fear the
pure blooded Morgans have almost
Disappeared
Do you raise any bronchos?'
No, I don't waste much time on
bronchos. You see 1 raise horses for |
the city markets, for light and heavy |
draft purposes, and bronchos would |
be of very little use in that line
;" How about mules?'
We have raised a few mules. | |
say we because, as matter of fact, |
my father and brothers do most OF |
the work in taking care of the range,
and look after the selling and the
buying of the mares and horses for
breeding. We have raised a few
mules, but l don't see much in it.
Southern farmers like mules, but
they are beginning to find that a
light horse will do the same work |
that a mule will do, and the horse is
more pleasant to work with. Then |
it is a good deal more trouble to !
raise mules
Turning the trend of the CONVEX
sation gracefully Miss Wilkins said
I am going to tell you something
now that you will probably not be- |
lieve. l have a dear old mare that |
is thirty-eight years old. She has |
never eaten a mouthful Of grain in
her life, and she raised a splendid |
colt last year, while there is a hand
some two-year-old still running by |
her side. l believe that mare is, in
her way, the most remarkable horse |
in the world. She was lost nearly
all winter in the mountains several |
years ago when a heavy snow fell, |
and we had to round the herd up
and found them snow-bound We |
gave old Molly up for dead, but
when spring opened we found her as
fat and saucy as a seal. | fairly |
cried for JOY when the men came !
home and told me they had found |
old Molly still alive. She has raised |
three splendid colts since that. Her |
teeth are all gone, but she manages |
to live on the buds and bark of |
shrubs in winter and on the tender
grass in summer
I'm describing her horses the face |
of the tair horsewoman fairly CLOVIS /
with enthusiasm. My horses are
perfect beauties, she said. L keep /
them until they are three years old /
and sell them without a solitary
blemish. Their bones are strong and !
perfectly formed, and their feet are
simply perfection. I wish l could +
show you some of the splendid teams /
of horses l have sold to the farmers
of Dakota. Why, they just snap my
horses up like hot cakes when l take |
a few carloads of them up there
The Wilkins ranch is also pretty
well stocked with cattle, about |
1000 head roaming over the prai-
ries." - st. Louis Globe Democrat.
RATHER AMUSING.