Charlevoix county herald., 1905-04-15
IIVF1|
STOCK
BUYING a Stallion.

1t has been mentioned in this and
every other farm and live stock jour-
nal In the country that our horse
breeding operations have led to the
mixing of many kinds of blood rather
than the straight breeding of any
particular kind until practically pure
blood could be obtained. This has
not been wholly the farmers fault.
He has made one or two top crosses
OF the same blood and has later
found 1t impossible to find stallion
OF that blood to go on with. This
being the case he has perforce used
the stallion nearest to him and that
one has often been widely different
in blood and type from the one first
used. Mongrels have resulted from
this method of breeding, and we have
made little real advance in the pro-
duction of pure-bred horses of any
one breed of the many imported into
this country for breeding purposes.
This spring men are again trying to
find the kind of stations they most
require and approve of, and, if they
cannot be found, they will have as
heretofore to breed to any horse that
can be most readily used. Meanwhile
the stallion peddler is busy through
out the land. He is taking into the
country districts imported stations
and forming companies to purchase
them. The company consists of
prominent farmers in each commune
ty, who buy shares in the horse until
his price amounts to several thou
sand dollars. Were the horse always
good individual, always sound, al
ways pure-bred and always deep
enough bred to prove prepotent, the
price would not count so much as it
does at present; for really prepo-
tent stallion is worth the money now
asked for company horses. The
trouble is, however, that very many
Of the stations imposed upon farm
companies are cheap, poor, shallow
bred and often unsound animals
They have come here largely owing
to the fact that they could be bought
cheaply abrOad-from three to five
hundred dollars head-and men are
paying a big premium when they
combine and invest thousands of dol
lars in such horses.
But the worst feature of the ped
died stallion business is perhaps that
the horse bought by the company is
often not the one that is most re-
CURED In given district. The horse
to buy everywhere is the one that is
in blood as like as possible to the
blood predominating in the veins of
the mare stock of the district in
which he is to serve. If, for example.
Percheron horses have been most
used in district, the advent of
German coach horse, or coach horse
of other breed, or even a draft stall
lion of breed other than the Percher.
on, does harm, in that he stops prog
ress towards the production of prac-
tically purebred Percheron horses. 1t
might require but few additional
top-crosses Of Percheron blood to ar.
rive at pure-bred horses, but the use
of the coacher commences a new eff.
fort and incidentally destroys the
good effect of previous crosses of Per.
cheron blood.
So with all other breeds. In some
districts Clydesdales or Shires have
long been used and into them the
pedd!er finds his way with Belgian or
Percheron stallion, often with a
French horse that is not a Percheron.
and the company is formed by subtle
and hidden methods of persuasion. In
his proper sphere each pure-bred stall
lion is capable of doing grand work
in the grading up of our stock, but
out of his sphere of usefulness, intro
duced where there is no blood of his
sort, he is often an actual detriment
to our horses. We shall say nothing
here of the unsound and impotent
horses that are sold to companies. of
the shady methods of some of the
company formers, of the exorbitant
prices paid for inferior animals. The
chief point we wish to make in This
article is that it is high time to wake
up to the fact that company horses
are not only too dear, but likely to he
other than the horses most required
in district The way out of the trouble
Is for breeders in district to get
together, decide what they want, the
breed most likely to give good re-
suits, and then go and buy suitable
horse at the headquarters of a rep
utable breeder or importer. In this
way the horse will be bought at a
great saving, there will be a number
seen to pick from and the right breed
at least will be procured. Reputable
importers, and there are many of such
firms in the country, would be glad to
stop peddling horses. They would
like to sell at their home stables. and
such business would be best for all
coecerned.-A. S. Alexander in Farm
ers' Review.