The Tupelo journal., 1907-05-10
FARMING IN
THE SOUTH
DRAFT HORSES IN THE SOUTH.
Increase of Population in Cities Has
Opened Up a Market.


-
The breeding of draft horses has
not made as much progress in the
south as lit should have done. This
is particularly true in sections where
limestone predominates and blue grass
.thrives naturally. The excellence OF
the light horses produced in this Sec
ton is positive proof that draft ami
mails of superior merit could also be
raised if the right type OF sire and
dam were available for the work. The
light horse has been such a favorite,
however. as to almost exclude the
consideration of any other type of AMI
NAL until within the last few years.
This was really not surprising, for the
old-time farmer of the south depend
ed almost entirely On the mule as a
beast of burden, while the horse was
used chiefly for saddle purposes or for
driving; and the light horse was of
course better suited to this purpose
than any other type of animal. Even
today the light horse is in great de-
mand, and animals of excellence and
merit bring profitable prices and find
ready sale; the one misfortune in this
particular being that the supply is
quite inadequate to the demand, and
there is not enough system and care
exercised in the breeding OF light
horses to overstock the market with
animals of superior merit as long as
the demand for good horses of this
- $3.50 r., ~ tIn rncnn tJmn
The great demand for draft horses
during recent years has caused this
industry to look up materially, and
there is certainly an opportunity for
its development in the entire region
mentioned with success. The rapid
increase of population in our cities
and the growth of various industrial
concerns has opened up a market for
draft horses for dray purposes which
was comparatively restricted a few
years ago, and this demand is likely
to increase for a number of years to
come, for only high-class animals are
purchased for this work, and after all
there are comparatively few OF these
bred at the present time, and the
market does not seem likely to be
overstocked in the immediate future.
The experience of those who at
tempted the breeding of draft animals
was so unfortunate in many instances
that it is little wonder that farmers
lost interest in breeding this type OF
horses. The early sires introduced
were, as a rule, defective in many re-
spects. and when bred to mares OF
varied conformation, many of which
were also unsound in one or more
particulars, it vas no surprising that
the offspring was neither a draft or
intermediate type and quite unsulted
to the market demands of that day.
Past experience has therefore taught
| the farmer to be rather shy of breed
ing draft animals, and has led in many
instances to false conclusions con-
corning the possibilities of this fea-
ture of the horse breeding industry.
Some have concluded that the draft
animal is quite ~unadapted for use in
| the south. In the far south and In
the cotton fields this is probably true,
but throughout the Appalachian re-
gion 1t Is certainly not the case; for
while the draft animal may not be
needed by the average farmer, still
he may be successfully. grown in this
| section and sold at good profit because
the region is so contiguous to the
great markets of both the east and
west, ana buyers occasionally passing
through this section loking for ami
mails of the draft type ever at the
present time; and, of course, it would
be easier to stimulate an interest in
this class were the industry more
widely and favorably considered.
There are a few draft animals in va
rious sections of the region mentioned,
but they are so few and far between
that It can hardly be classed as a
special industry up to the present
time. In certain places, like Harrison
burg, Va, the breeding of draft horses
has become quite wei established,
and monthly horse sales are held, to
which buyers from a distance come
because of the good qualities of many
of the animals offered for sale. This
shows how quickly merit in this class
of horses is appreciated and how
easy it is to establish a market for
any animal of merit raised on the
farm