Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1901-08-01
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In paper read before the Iowa
state farmers institute Mr.. A. Lat-
mer Wilson said:
say unhesitatingly that the draft
horse is the best and most profitable
horse for the farmer to raise. | say so,
first, because my experience and oo-
servatbn have proved that a larger
percentage Of draft horses raised Is
marketable than of other breeds.
am often asked which is the safest
and best draft breed to mate with
your mares. | answer: Each of the
recognized draft breeds has its re-
spective merits. While l am great
admirer Of the Percheron horse, espe-
cially to raise In this great agricultural
state, l am forced to believe that the
Shire horse Is the best and safest sire
In view Of the great foreign demand
that has grown up in the past few
years for thF heavy draft horse.
When in Chicago recently, / was told
by commission man that out of the
q foreign buyers there at that time 18
of them were buying for the English
markets. Certainly there Is a great
future for the breeder of first class
draft horses. In selecting your mares
10 breed be careful you do not get them
too fine or light boned, but rather on
the coarser and more open order. Mate
them with heavy boned, good quality
and stylish sires, and you will reap the
best results. This is my theory, and
1t has given me the best results. AL
ways looking out for the bone in a
draft horse, we can usually put on the
rest, but we cannot feed on bone. 1t Is
fact that as long as a Shire horse
feeds and gains pounds he gains dol
lars. 1t is not SO with many of the
other draft breeds. Many of the draft
breeds do not have the bone and feath-
er to go into our best feeding stables to
be finished out as well as my good
friend Mr.. McGregOr of Tingley does
II. Mr.. McGregor is unquestionably
the best feeder in our great state. You
will find in his barns at this writing
that the Shire blood predominates in
nine out of ten of his horses.
The Best Age For sires.
A turf journal publishes about four
columns Of figures and facts bearing
on the question of young or old sires,
and the conclusion is that some horses
have sired their great ones while young
and some got no good ones TIL late in
life. In other words, there is no law
that will apply in this matter. The
average breeder need not pay much at
tention to the age of the stallion pro
vided he Is vigorous horse. \ young
horse that is vigorous that has good
constitution, Is far less desirable than
an old one that is still lusty and rea-
sonably sure Avoid extremes, and es-
pecially avoid delicate. dainty and rat
tie headed sires. A stallion full Of life
and ready for his meals under all cir
cumstances is the kind.
Size In Horses.
The man who breeds horses on the
farm must avoid the competition OF
the ranchman, and he must do it by
the excellence of his products, says
National Stockman. Size Is one of the
important points Of high selling horse
nowadays. Quality counts for more
than 1t ever did, but small horse OF
good quality will not sell like a good
sized one Of the same quality. Nc
breeder should sacrifice style and
soundness for size, nor Is 1t necessary
TO do so. There are good big horses OF
q II.