East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1906-04-09
HORSES ARE NEEDED
BREEDING OF GOOD
HORSES WILL PAY.
William Yohnka Says In the Rural
Spirit That Il Would Require 80
Years Constant Breeding TO Supply
the Pacific Coast as II Was 10 Years
Ago-GOod Horses I'm Demand
Everywhere.

farmer of the west end of the county,
writes an entertaining article on the
horse raising industry, to the Rural
Spirit, of which the following is an
extract:
II all of the mares in the entire
country were bred it would take 80
years of good solid breeding to re-
place our horse supply as 1t was in
the year 1896, says Mr.. Yonka.
1t is a settled fact this mighty i'm
migration to our inland empire has
sought every quarter of available land
that makes many homes for families
that used to belong to the horsemen
and horses that roamed in large bands
throughout the states of Oregon and
Washington and the large horse
breeder of 1850 is no more for the
simple reasons that his vast ranges
are exhausted and he had to sell his
horses to horse dealers from the mid
die west who grasped the situation
and realizing the growing demand of
their rapidly expanding cities and the
scarcity of the American draft horse
with which to supply this demand had
to knock at the doors of Oregon and
Washington and secure the cayuses
or broncho as substitute with which
to keep the wheel of commerce on the
move in those cities.
While his substitutes were cheap on
our range he loaded up with large
bands ut a reasonable figure and took
out of the country geldings and prac-
tically all of the mares and it left us
without either.
This is a summary of one of our
best statisticians that in the year of
1894 there were shipped out of the
state of Washington 10000 head of
horses to the east; in 1895 there were
23,5O0 head shipped out, and in the
year 1896 there were 21.0OO shipped
out of Oregon and Washington, and
since that date horse breeding has
ceased and our homesteads and ranges
being plowed up and the golden ce-
real raised upon these vast ranges
drove our large horse breeders to the
wall. and our large irrigation projects
expanding from year to year call for
more horses to do the work, and We
cannot go to the ranges and buy our
teams for 800 per pair, for our
range horses are exhausted and We
have to look to the farmer for our
teams at prices from $3.50 to $500 per
pair. If these conditions prevail five
years longer we will remember this
article written in the Rural Spirit on
horses.
OUr coast cities are expanding from
day to day and more horses are in
use, and our Alaskan trade is growing
larger every year. The average life
of horses taken to Alaska is 1S
months, while our Alaskan trade COM
mands the best horses that our mar
kets can afford and the best that
money can buy.
Furthermore, look at our great AL
berta country the mad rush of immi-
| grafton to that vast wheat country is
commanding many more horses than
they did several years ago. For in
stance, as a small illustration right
here at home. Watch Echo Growi"
-Four years ago our draying was
done OH a wheelbarrow, and now in
such a short time it takes four two
horse draws to do the work. and as
this great Furnish ditch is being
built and the lands under that great
ditch will he put under cultivation II
will require one team of horses to
every 20 acres, and where are we go-
ing to get them as all of the large
range breeders are no more, and all
OF our good farm horses go to help
expand our large cities, and to de-
velop our Alaska and the Alberta
trade, our railroad building, our irri-
CATION projects and our great wheat
belts Of Oregon and Washington?