The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-07-28
VISIT BLUE GRASS
GOVERNMENT INSPECT KEN
lucky TRoTTING FARMS
ARE LOOKING FOR BREEDERS
Were Unable to- Find Anything That
Suited Them in the SOuth's
Great Breeding
Grounds

~ TRIO of representa- ives OF the
80 japanese government. with
mY 10 their secretary, spent several
" days recently visiting blue
grass trOtting establishments
In search of material with which to
uptanlId the japanese horse. says the Gin
cinnati Enquirer The gentlemen were
! Benji Hirosawa, chief of the horse breed
ing section of the Agricultural bureau.
Imperial department OF agriculture and
commerce, Tokyo; J. Yasui, director to
the state stallion depot, Kumam0to. and
! B. lichj0, supervisor of horses for the
local government at Tokyo Their secre-
tary was II. S. Ichii. representative of
the firm of Nosawa & Co, Japanese i'm
porters Of dive stock. They left Japan
on May II for tour Of America Eng
land, France and Germany, and do not
expect to reach hcme again until the
end of the year. They arrived in Cali
foznia in the early part of June and
visited Rancho del Paso and PaIo Alto
studs At Palo Alto they purchased two
trottfng stations and took an option on
third From California they went to
| BuftalD, N. Y. and scent a week There
they bought eleven stations and four
mares from the HamIins at Village
farm. Here they visited Walnut Hill
farm, ElmeHdCrf stud and Orchard park
They Were very much pleased with the
get OF Ashland Wilkes at Col. Cre.Shton's
esta blishrfent, but they oil MOI see any
thing in Kentucky which suitei their
fancy or rather which represented the
type of stallion they have chosen as a
pattern. They departed for New York.
whence, on the 18th, they have sailed for
London. Before leaving they mailed a
letter to PaEo Alto closing the deal for
the third stallion at that establishment
Thus their purchases in America num-
Der eighteen-f0urtsen stations and four
mares. TIE horses will be shipped at
once. those from the Village farm join
ing the Paio Alto trio at san Francisco
In England they viii buy Thoroughbred
and hackneys, and in France and Ger
many they will buy Angto-Arabic and
Arabian horses.
81 am much disappointed" said Mr.
HIrosowa. on the eve of his departure,
that We failed to secure a Kentucky
horse. In Japan the name of Kentucky
as q nerSebreed1ng state is great. We
hear much Of the grand Blue Grass coun-
try. l am highly pleased with the coun-
try, and readily understand why it Is
best for horses, but 1 am sorry to observe
that the breeders are permitting their
! horses to degenerate in conformation.
Ten years ago we received in Japan from
Kentucky seven grand specimens of the
American tr6ttiug horse and they have
done exceedingly well in the stud and
have greatly improved the standard OF
our horse, even in so short a time. Four
years ago We bought three from Lex
ington parties One Of them died in
transport. The other two are in the i'm
perial stud at Tokyo. but they are not
doing nearly so well as those OF the first
Importation They are not as Sood
horses. What we want is a good three
or four-year-Old hay or chestnut, large
barrel, plenty of bone, straight legs, good
head and neck, broad chest and big
heart. The majority of the horses we
saw here We're light in body and high up
from the ground They stood consdera-
bly, bowed in front. They are built for
racing. We don't want them to race.
The Kentucky breeders are after speed,
! because in this country speed sells. In
! Japan there is very little racing of trOt-
tiers. Our country is small, and we have
no organizations such as your grand cir
cult. The opportunity for the sport Is
limited, but we are coming to it in man
ner"
MIR. Hirosawa asked about the system
OF racing in this country, and was much
; interested in the explanation of the man
agement of the racing associations and
! the methods of maintaining the great
stakes. He knew that there was a great
demand for speed. and that the speediest
horses sold for the most money. but he
had the idea that speed was wanted for
the honor solely OF owning the fastest
had been explained to him, he said: "Oh,
7 see, it is not all glory that the gentle
men are after. The fast horse makes
him much money" But ne departed Ia
| mentins the fact that in breeding for
speed not a great deal Of consideration is
given by the Kentuckiaus to the shape
and looks of the product.