Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1902-02-06
FUTURE OF THE HORSE


A dealer in horses said to me the
other day: = don't know what we are
going to do for horses. I can't get
enough for my customers. | could use
a good many more than l can procure.
Our native horses are all cleaned out.
and what we do get are brought in
from the south or west. But the
trouble is, the south and the west are
short, too. Horses must advance IN
price, and that right sharply, too"
And yet we are told that the United
States has close to 100000 horses,
sides the horses we have also some
thing like 100000 mules, worth S6G
each, or representing total of $12n-
100000. Out of this total there ere
probably not more than 100000 young
horses really fit for the market
1t is easy to account for a great
deaF of this scarcity from the fact
that there has been sharp demand
for cur horses from the British. who
have used them in the African war.
The Germans have also used a good
many i'll China. while the Belgium
market has just taken 1900 horses for
their cavalry. paying for them an
average of $3.50. In the year 1900
We exported about $4,000 horses. I
gain over 1898 of more than 1000 per
cent. in seven years.
But it is not so easy to determine
where the horses are coming from 10
continue this ratio of increase much
longer, unless some of our farmers
turn their attention to horse raising.
The great west is entering upon a
period of its history when it will not
be content to devote its time to
grazing. The immense ranches arc
being turned more and more into
farms. So that we must depend upon
them for our supply of horses. At The
present time good horse is worth in
New York 500. The price varies
somewhat in other states. but :. is not
unfair to say that the price in New
York is representative to that ruling
elsewhere.
The cost of raising colts on the
average farm is not great, and the
increase in value will no doubt be an
incentive to many to do more in the
direction of raising them than We
have done for some time. While the
price was low there was little money
in it for the farmers of the east Tile
west could Guido us in every way.
The time was when on almost every
farm one might see a young colt.
That time will soon come again. |
think.-E. l.. Vincent.
Cow Peas.
So much has been written recon-
mending COW peas and other IegUmi-
Gus crops that one who reads the
agricultural papers would expect to
see them growing upon every farm.
but in many sections where COW peas
could be profitably grown they have
not yet been introduced People are
so used to depending upon the corn,
oats and wheat crops that they pay
but little attention to anything else
and so they run their land in these
undertake to remedy this by buying
commercial fertilizer, or moving west
and securing new land. The ones
that depend upon commercial ferti-
llzer are sure to make a failure of it
unless they also take to raising some
leguminOus crops. OF these the COW
pea is one of the best as it is
paying crop, and only requires from
seventy to ninety days to mature
Cow peas may be so arranged as to
come in as a catch crop after wheat
or winter oats, and not interfere with
raising other crops. Some recon-
mend them to be sOwn in corn at last
working, but my experience is that if
there is anything like a good crop Of
corn, the cow peas will not amount 20
much in corn
The COW pea if sown just after
wheat harvest will make a good crop
by latter part of September, and will
help keep up nitrogen supply in the
soil. Last summer I tried COW peas
III the field with soy beans. and the
coy peas proved to be much the
better crop. The peas grew right
along through drouth in July. They
had a rich, dark green color. and
seemed to be very little affected by
the drought. The soy beans were a
very inferior crop. They did not de-
velOp tubercles on the roots to any
considerable extent, so they had to
depend upon the soil for nitrogen.
This was not the case with the COW
peas. | think that the COW peas and
red clover are the best crops of the
legumlnOus class for this section.
The soy bean may be all right if the
soil is inoculated artiicialIy with soy
bean bacteria, but two years in sue
cession has failed to develop soy
bean bacteria in my soil to any con.
siderable extent. Tubercles grow
upon the roots of the COW pea all
right, and if the land is not too weedv
they will make good growth on very
thin land.-A. J. Legg, Albion. w. Va
Hog Cholera.
Commenting on the absence of hog
cholera in Iowa this year, Wallace's
Farmer says: What is the reason
we hear nothing Of hog cholera this
year? So far we have not heard Of a
single case. There may possibly be
some, but no report of them has come
to this Office. We doubt whether it