The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-10-20
WAR OFFERS BIG OPPORT TUNlTY FOR
 HORSE FEEDING
Department of Agriculture Urges Farmers To Grasp
 Situation.

Ion GEEOEQl11S HIN 5StAGst1C1E e91 the Buited States Department of Az rfculture as not only will horses be needed for armies, but when peace
 is restored more will be needed for agriculture. Already European agents are said Sto be endeav bring to pur- chase horses in this country and Can ada, and there is an increased Inter ast in many sections in horse ba-eed- lIng
 TO eet this Increased European demand American farmers may well sndeavor to raise we1l-fbred horses although the department of agricuI-. t1re does not advise them to pur-a chase a surplus of horses merely for breeding purposes. It merely advfs- ea that ordinary farm work should be. done whenever possible by good mares which should be bred to good sfaIlions It also desires to ern- phasize the fact that only horses of high quality may be profitably rais- ed today. Inferior horses are 2 drug on the market and their prod uction is to be discouraged as much as the production of good horses should be encouraged.
 The United States has previously been drawn on to supply European countries at war In the Beer war over 100 y0eO horses were bought here by the British goyernrn ent It may be doubted whether a foreign govern 1aeat co11d now oa4aiT siniIar sup 5 ply in this country. except at exces- pains to utilize their good mares siYe cost Howev ers if farm CTS take dtfrirae this winter to breed them to good sta1aons, In the course of sew eral years ttirne enough for the foals to deve1op.9 America would sbe bet ter able to meet the European de- InaIad.
 is natural that Europesn eoun- trnes should look to the United States for horses, as next to Russia It has more of these a.nnfnals than any. other country in the world. The United States and Russia. possess 5S per cent of the supply. Strange to origf1aI1y on the contine ent and the supply cannes from stock 5. brought oyer from Europe. Cana das $ supply is small compared to our own.
 War as a consumer Of horses
 The German army requires for the coupIete mobilization TO, 600 horses and the French army Is said to re- aufre 260s 0D6s which figlaz'es la9 weyer,S is eonservative1y estimated on good authority that Il ,009, 0 00s horses are now engaged in the European war: As the great naJor1tv or thes horses are not insluded in the pernnaner1t military organization but gre used for farm work and are requisiti oped by governments only when needed for rpi4ftary Sps1rposes tH3e countries of continental Europe will certainly face an acute shortage of farm horses be- Ire the next planting season which will seriously affect the price of horses the world over. as soon as peace IS declared
 According to the best information horses in the countries of Europe s 11uv at war number as follows
 Feat Britain z, 31s oeo 17tl-z z. <elgfum ;. .- 16S, ooo Germany .s. --.z. .a- .gs4 b23, 900 Austraa-14ungary :. 1. 3 z ], DOC Russia. s.. .a. .s-- .-.-- :. P s6 r DOC
 qs1ta4 ......s...... 8s, ,265, 900
 Tn addition England has a supply Of about six millions to draw Tram : in her various dependencies Rlssia has about ten mil ions In Asia anu Trance probably 500. 0A0 to one mil 5 lion fn her colonies.
 The rapacious consu1aa pti lon of horses in war is Illustrated by figures from our own Civil conflict During his Shenandoah Valley ca caEnpa1gns Sheridan was supplied with fresh horses at the rate of 15n per day. In ! his report for the year 1S6B. the Quart master General of the U. g. Army stated: sgThe service of a cav Es--y horse under an enterprtHng com z xnander has averaged only four
 
 , horses consumed per day in the Northern Army without considering those captured and not reported Dur ing ig1at months of that year, the.cav- < airy of the Army of the PotoTnsec was , renlountad twice. nearly 1900 horses in a1I being requires
 Our Own Army Desirable Market
 Our own army furnishes a desirable | market for weII-bred horses there be- i ing under the renao11nt system, at least I 5. 900 horses required annually to IsuppIy both the Army and the Ma I fionaI Guard. There are now about 3O, ,o00 horses in our regular Army on a peace basis In war; many more would be required before the first en- gagSment There is. therefore, a steady market for good horses inde-4 pendent of fine European denaand d. Ev- j en the invasion of motor power which has reduced the number Of horses on -four streets has not influenced this de- mand Tn fact, the price of horses has advanced along with other com medities during recent years.
 The Bureau of Animal ndustry of the U g. Department q Agriculture, ashfngton, D. e.. stands ready to aid any farmer desiring to breed high [ class horses. As the day Of the large tstaorse ranch is practically gone. any increased demand will have to be met by the farmer There are certain lo- scaIities more suited to horse breeding than others and places where certain breeds do better. Such details may be obtained for the asking. Even in the South, where mules are bred in preference to horses an increased produetion of nrst-c1ass animals should find ready market abroad, all theuxh tbe mule is not used on the Continent to the extent that It zs us ed nere.
 Mrs e D. oiiphant of Trenton. Ns T., anti-suffragfst, now on the stump in Montana. has brought suit for $50,- GOO against a Montana, newspaper. all 1eglng she has been HbeIed by the publication of a suffragfst poem which