Newport weekly independent., 1902-10-03
MANY HORSES IN DEMAND
Grow'ng Crties and Industrial Cen. ters Require Constantly In-
 creasing Supply of the AnimaJx

the horse of the drudgery of increas- ing work and the cruelty of drivers the horse is being advanced to a hiober plane of utility and luxury, says the Scientific American. There is no lono- CT demand for the cheaper oradeS of street car horses. The African war took several thousand, but the armies of the world call for better class of horses. The old cab horse that stands in the streets day and night is being supplanted by automobiles in cities where good pavements prevail, just as the horse was relieved from the street cars by electricity; thus, step by step. the horse is being advanced. and we welcome every improvement in me- chanical power as a blessing to the horse.
 The growth of our cities and indus trlal centers increases the demand for horses ot better class. The bic draft teams in our city streets indicate the prosperity in this country: and it is the ambition of our manufacturers to get the finest draft horses that can he
 had. While our merchants and ex
 press companies are increasing the number of handsome active horses, the
 grocers and tradesmen utilize many of the cheaper animals. While a few
 wealthy people own an automobile they must have fine horses, and with
 the cheap price of vehicles in America. with so many big factories. almost
 everybody has horse and buggy. sur rey or carriage. while all who can af- ford it have handsome coach and car
 r1age horses-the prices of which are
 higher than ever before known. The demand for all the letter classes of
 horses is far greater than the supply, because our farmers became disccur- aged six or eight years ago and quit breeding, when panic prices were below cost of production and the fear that the
 bicycle and electricity would soon dis place the horse.
 With the return of prosperity came the increased demand for horses. but a higher class. and at higher prices.
 We now have an era of industrial horses and horses of luxury never before known in the history of this country. After our civil war in 1865 we discovered that we were horse poor, with millions of little trotters. mules and ranch ponies. We began inn porting draft horses and later the large, handsome coach horses. to in crease the size and utility of our American horses. We imported these to improve our own. more liberally than any nation has ever imported any pure breed of stock, and when prices dropped the export buyers took 5o,0OO to 750o0 year to Europe. until our prices last year got so high that they could handle but a few.
 With the revival of commercial pros perity came the increased demand for good horses and with no breeding for few years the horse buyers soon culled out the good horses and we are now in the midst of horse famine.
 Farmers rallied to horse breeding as prices advanced and our importers are again annually importing shiploads of pure bred stallions of the Percheron or French draft breed, known in the cities as the Normans. From France some of our importers brought 200 last year. The importations of Belgians. English Shires and Scotch Clydesdales are all increasing for our draft horse produc- tion while our importations of French coach, German coach, and hackney horses is annually growing.
 Eight to ten years ago these stal lions would not sell for more than $200 to $500; now they readily Sell at $2,0OO to $5 ,OOO-ten times as much. They are chiefly bought by companies organized to improve horse breeding in different localities of the horse breeding states, Ohio, Indiana. Illinois, Iowa. Kansas. Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and Missouri. The little American trotter, while the fastest horse in the world, bred for speed, but lacking the size and beauty of car riage and coach horses, is relegated to the sporting race track, much as the is fit only for racing. The draft horse is now the most profit able and most popular horse with the American farmer, who requires good draft team for his farm work. The lit tie trotters are increased in size and utility by crossing with the large, handsome coach horses.
 The whole world wants more good horses. England, France and Germany cannot supply their cities and their armies. Russia, with 25, GOO ,O00 horses, has no good horses for export. Amer ica is the only country from which large supplies may be had, and when our increased horse production begins to mature we can supply the world as a6 ot