The Washington herald., 1907-11-13

Unsung though his praises be. as COM
pared with his ieet-footed brother OF the
turf. the draft horse in America Is a
factor in the commerce OF the nation
second only 10 the men who make this
commerce. Even the railroads could not
thrive without him, and would have to
run empty trains but for the produce of
field forest, and mine that he brings.
Together with his neighbOrs, the riding
and driving horses, he holds a place
from which neither steam nor electricity
can ever oust him. II was said when the
cable and the electric car came along
that ii was the end Of the horse. and
again when the automobile started on
its career it was claimed that he would
become a relic of bygone civilization. 10
be seen only as occasionally as a mule
is now seen in New England.
But the horse lives on. There are over
million more horses in the United
States to-day than there ever have been.
and 100000 more than there were when
automobile enthusiasts were predicting
MS doom. In round numbers there are
ZOV0.O00 horses in the United States.
They have an aggregate value Of nearly
sZ,0J0 100000, an average Of Si0S per head
There are also nearly 100000 mules. and
their aggregate value is not far from
Se1O00. The per head value has been
placed by the Department. Of Agriculture
al SlZz- II viii be seen from these hg-
ures that the average mule is worth
more than the average horse. Illinois
has more horses than any other State
10000 Iowa. Texas and Kansas have
oh
Along in the early 'scs the bottom
dropped out OF the horse market Horses
that had previously sold for sl25 could
be bought for $50 This was tust about
the time that the horse cars began TO
be replaced by the cable cars and the
electric cars. Everybody thought that
the passing Of the old horse cars was
the death knen OF the horse. that he
would no longer be a profitable animal
70 rear. Values went down so low that
The average price in the United States
for a horse was only S3l Men had paid
as high as $50 for weanlings a year or
two before, and were forced 10 take
$50 and less for them as four-year-olds.
In those days there were very few high
grade horses 10 be found. The stock was
mostly mongrel. and the thousand
pound mongreI horse did Just as well
as a blOoded one 10 pull a street car. He
did a little better than a heavier horse,
for he could make better time But with
the passing OF the horse car. which an
nually required million horses. the e-
mand for this class OF animal ceased,
and farmers everywhere began 20 do
vi ruf
doing befOre-rear grade Percherons
Clydesdales, ShiUes, and the like For a
year or two. however there were very
Few colts reared. Then as the market
began 10 revive, after having felt the
supply unequal 10 the demand. the value
OF hOrsefiesh began 10 increase. until
to-day. although there is a larger num-
Der OF horses IN the United States than
ever before. the average horse is now
worth more than three times as much as
in lSe3
I A few years ago Flrmer Wilson pub
ushed what is known as the horse
book" a treatise on all the diseases OF
/ the horse and other information about
him. Each Representative and Senator
/ was allotted a large number. and the
I Department kept others for its own dis
| tribUtlon- Immediately the book became
I the rage among the farmers Of the coun-
/ Try. Those who failed 20 get them were
/ writing their Representatives, begging
/ for copies SO great was the deman
/ that. liberal as had been the frst edi-
I ton, it did not anywhere near meet the
/ requests that came in. Some Represen-
/ tatives had constituencies which did not
\ care for horse books. and they traded
! them 10 other Representatives for some
/ thing else. In sOme districts Representa-
/ tives were defeated because they dis
/ played poor tact in the distribution OF
/ these hors- books In other districts they
made themselves solid with their con
/ stituents because by sharp bargains they
/ got enough 10 90 around. Congress has
! already authorized several editions. and
/ still the rural communities are unsatis-
/ ted. They want more. Never in the his
/ rory Of the department. or OF the gov
ernment itself. has there been such a
/ widely popular government publication
I printed. Cattle books have been issued
/ and all other sorts OF books. but none
I Of them have made the hit that was
made by the horse book. Even the JEFF
! ferson Bible. of which there will be a
mind so forcibly as did this tome.
/ Nine men out Of ten if asked where the
real home Of the mule is will answer Mis-
souri,. The mule of that State has been
talked Of and written about so much that
most people think Missouri is the only
place where ~long-eared obstinacy'
grows. And yet. great as is Missouri in
/ the production Of the mule she is out OF
/ II when compared with Texas. The truth
is, that there are two mules in the Lone
I Star State where there is one in Mis-
soui, Texas has 63l.Go0 mules and Mis-
souri, only 3i5.00o. But with all that the
/ Department Of Agriculture thinks that
what the Missouri mule lacks in numbers
he makes up in reputation. The average
/ Texas mule is worth S93 while the aver
age one from Missouri is worth Sl04. The
New England States do not have enough
mules to make it even worth the time OF
| the government statistician TO count them
| South Carolina Georgia, and Florida
| have the most valuable mules in Amer
lea. In the former two States they are
valued at Sl5S per head. The most worth
| less mule halls from Utah, where his
average value is only $50.
/ Perhaps the most interesting draft horse
| in the world Is the one that pulls the fire
engine. It takes more than half million
of them to supply all the fire departments
Of America. The FIRE department horse
must be intelligent. 1t is usually a short
coupled. stockily-built horse that is to be
relied on to- make good time dragging a
! fire engine. It takes many an hour OF
patient work TO get a "hayseed" horse
/ just from the country. trained 10 the
point where he runs TO his place as soon
/ as an alarm is turned in. He has 10 be