Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1907-03-21

and afterward sired justin Morgan the
sire Of the famous Morgan line.
! Early In the last century New England
| in general and Vermont In particular
were famous for their Morgan horses.
These horses were small, but wcll built.
compact and very good roadsters. with
powers of endurance little short Of re-
stations of other strains TO get speed
and increased size. and the Morgan type
was very largely bred out These
standard bred horses were not OF the
Morgan type. and IN many cases they
were not desirable individuals for breed
! ing purposes. Even in Vermont the eff
fects of these crosses are found on every
hand. In the southern part OF the State
it is hard to find horses showing the
Morgan type. but farther north they are
more common.
Believing that the Morgan chara cter-
| istcs were too valuable to the horse
breeding industry to be lost. the bureau
of animal industry Of the department of
agriculture last year established a stud
| in corporation with the Vermont ex-
pertinent station to revive the interest
in the Morgan breed The type selected
Is that of the old Morgan, with size and
|
gan horse will answer the requirements
of the market for light horses and will
be profitable horse for farmers to
raise.
Nine mares and two FLIES were bought
| last June They are uniform in type.
with full made bodies. fine heads and
necks, full headquarters, good legs and
feet, and abundant quality. Seven mares
and the two fllies were bought In YER
mont and two mares In Kentucky.
Those bought in Vermont are by such
sires as General Gates, Bob Morgan,
Young Ethan Allen Ca full brother In
blood of Daniel I,amberO, Denning
Allen Rocky Mountain, and Gillig. Cen
eral Gates Is owned by Mr.. Battell and
is a full brother of Lord Clinton whose
:OS "a trottng race record was the
fastest gelding record at the time. there
then being only one faster stallion and
two faster mares. The Kentucky mares
are by Harrison Chief out of Morgan
mares and We're in foal to the saddle
stallion Highland Denmark, a horse IF
splendid conformation and quality. and
an excellent stock getter. Some of the
Vermont mares were in foal at the time
OF purchase. Those not in foal were
bred to the Morgan stations, General
Gates Frank Allen. and Rex. The In
PRODUCTION of Harrison Chief and other
saddle blood was thought desirable on
account of the great effect that the blood
has had on the quality OF the harness
horses for which Kentucky Is famous
These mares were bought by n board
composed OF Prof. G. F. Curtiss. director
of the Iowa experiment station Cassius
Peck Of the Vermont experiment sta
ton and George NJ Rommel, animal
husbandman of the bureau OF animal in
dustry. In addition to the Characters
ties metioned above. the board insist
ed on pure trotting action and discrim-
linated sharply against pacing or any
tendency TO mix in gates. Pacing strains
in the peaigrees were also avoided as
far as possible. The mares are temper
arily on farm rented by the Vermont
experiment station in Burlington.
This is the stock which In all prob
liability will soon he transferred 10 the
farm at Weybridge which Mr. Battel
has given the government. Mr. Bat
tell has for many years been one OF the
most famous horse breeders in Vermont
and his gift to the government Is the
result OF gradually developed idea,
Mr.. Battells interest in the Morgan
horse has for its monument the
Morgan register, of which two
volumes have now been published,
the third being nearly ready. This scen-
tifc work, the first volume of which is
of 1900 pages, and the second of 500 pages,
includes the registration of Morgan horses
throughout the country, even includ.
ing Texas. When the government bought
its Morgan horses last year three of them
were secured from Mr.. Battell and ,the
suggestion was soon afterward made that
while the government had the horses It
had no farm of its own to use for breed
ing purposes. Mr.. Battell's first idea was
that he would rent part of his Weybridge
farm to the government at a nominal
, sum. but he finally concluded to give II
} outright Senator Proctor interested him
self actively In the matter and consulted
. with Secretary of Agriculture Wilson In
regard to It, Finally. late last fall, the
Vermont legislature met the necessity OF
} the case by enacting special law per-
: lA'sting Mr.. Battell to pass title to the
} government and this has now been done
, The 400 acres which the government thus
secures include 800 acres Of farm land