The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1913-05-13

DRAFT HORSE BREEDING.
Strange Neglect of a Valuable Indus.
try

From the lack of interest in draft
horse breeding it would seem that some
plan had been worked out whereby farm
work and farm machinery could be oper-
Iated without horsepower. saws Z. S. Akin
in the Rural New Yorker. This of
course is not true, the facts showing
just the opposite. As the younger gen
Grafton of farmers learn the better and
more up-to-date methods of eultivating
the soil, the requirements in more, larger
and better tools have doubled, making
hand labor too expensive to use in place
lof machinery. Horsepower on the farm
to-day is the first and greatest con-
sideration: without horsepower your
farm is worthless, and it is only valu-
able in proportion as you use this pow
er to the fullest extent in its cultiva-
ton. Think of what our great rail
road lines would be like if limited to To-
Icomotives of one.third or one-half of
their present power. Yet many farms
are being poorly farmed with inadequate
horsepower.
Instead OF our farmers giving the horse
but little or no consideration, he should
be developed and improved to our best
The little kingdom of Bel
GUM produces four times as much per
acre as do the average farms of the
United States. The price of land in
the middle West is from 500 to 5000
an acre. Why? Better cultivation and
more brains mixed in their live stock
production. If you are only earning a
living on your farm, just about keep
ing even, your farm is practically worth
less as an investment. A little good
hard study on what has been done and
what is now being done in horse breed
ing, considering only the practical. profit
able, hard horse sense end of the bust
ness, will give you an outline from which |
you can decide on working plan to |
improve your farm, increase its produc- |
tiveness and your income
Estimating the amount of horsepow-
er you will require on your farm is
something like estimating the cost of |
building or repairing house; the time
is pretty sure to come when your esti-
mate is little low. After deciding on
the number of horses that will do the
work in tirstclass shape on your farm,
you must decide on the breed of horses
best suited for farm work and to make
you profit, when your surplus stock is
sold, giving consideration to your mar
Set facilities.
The draft no. sc is the only kind that
It is possible for the farmer to consider
at the present time. There are several
breeds of draft horses. All have their
admirers and advocates. A little study
Of the kinds that are the most largely
Used and bring the highest prices in our
arge cities will help you to decide on
he breed that it is the most profitable
% handle, and after YOU decide on your
breed see that your work stock are all
mares. If you have geldings, sell them
I costs no more to keep mare, and
good mare properly mated will pro- !
luce you 500 weanling colt. beside {
arning her keep. No matter how many {
aares YOU have on the farm, breed them |
II TO the very best draft stallion avail I
BILE of the breed You have selected. The 1
rdinary farmer gets about 80 per cent {
f his mares in foal. With care YOU I
hould do better than this. Stick to +,
ne breed. Remember that uniform |
lunch of colts. all of one kind, will look c
etter to buyer than a mixture Good u
reeding and good feeding are sure to {
how in the quality OF your stock, and d
he quality of your horse means money. t
70 other class of live stock is so neces- '
airy on the farm, so easily raised and fl
AIRED for, and so easily turned INTO mon c
V at a profit as the draft horse. A t
ombined effort should be made to give G
raft horse breeding a prominent place a
! the eastern agricultural press, and in
be programs of all of our farmers in
titutes. and a more practical side OF
he business should be given 20 the stu n
ents at our agricultural colleges.