Tombstone epitaph., 1916-03-26

NfoaA hHo Snlteu sAaAes btpdl tfst4il VI
 Agriculture.b
 In the past ten years twenty states have enacted laws regulating the pub lie service of stallions and jacks. The principal objects of these laws are to improve the quality of horses and mules raised and to protect breeders against misrepresentation and fraud on the part of interruptions stallion owners and dealers.
 Tn order to accomplish these re- suits these laws require the owners of all stallions and jacks Intended for public service 10 secure a license from the stallion registration board or com mission. Licenses are issued for pure breds, grades. crossbreds. and mon grels or scrubs, according to the pro- visions of the law In the particular state.
 Those stallions or jacks offered by their owners as purebred must be rec orded in the studbooE published by a society recognized by the state as authentic and reliable. The certificate of registration and pedigree issued by one of these societies must be present ed to the board with an application for license and an affidavit certifying to the condition of soundness.
 In their general provisions all of these laws are similar. but in certain details vary in & greater or less de- gree. In some states certain diseases or unsoundness disqualify stallion or jack for public service, while in others the stallion or jack is permit. ted to stand. but any unsoundness must be mentioned on the license Ger. tifcate as we'll as on all posters. cir culars. etc. used by the owner for ad. vertising purposes.
 The states having laws of this char. acter are California. Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michi. gan. Minnesota. Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey. North Dakota, Oklahoma Oregon. Pennsylvania South Dakota Utah. Washington and Wisconsin The last-named state was the first to pass such law and Oklahoma the lat est one. Under the law in the latter ol6kc bLdillOn Doh ScAA4' pelled to secure a state license. but ii is safe to say that the holder of a state license has a great advantage over the one who does not
 It Is deplorable fact that hundreds of farmers and mare owners have pat cheap service fee. These men seemed to have failed to appreciate that in paying a higher fee for the service of the sound purebred sire the service fee will be more than offset by the higher price received when the result peared to consider the fact that il costs as much to raise a grade or mon grel as it does a purebred.
 A lack of consideration in the mat ters of soundness. breeding. and regis tration have been the cause for muci of the patronage secured by the in ferior stallion. However. these laws have now made 1t possible for every farmer and mare owner in these states to know exactly what a stallion or jaci is before breeding their mares. They have also benefited the owners o sound purebred sires because they dis courage the use of the unsound. grade and mongrel stallion.
 The results thus far show a gradrs increase in the percentage of purebret stallions in service and a decrease 1T the percentage of grades and mon | tho vraaapt firna approximately 5s.000 stallions in serv ice in these states, of which more thar 1 50 per cent are licensed as purebred This indicates that breeders are be coming more particular in the mat | ters of soundness and breeding. anC that the owners of stallions who a first were. in some instances, inclined to oppose are now aiding in tho en forcement of the provisions of thu laws.
 The question may be asked as [, what is becoming of the unsound grade. and mongreI stallions. The V ports from the various states snov that as the patronage of inferior ami mals decreases they are either castrat cd or shipped out. undoubtedly int those states where there is no law t' compel them to stand under their tru' condition of soundness and breeding thus continuing their destructive worl D the horse industry.
 It is in these states that breeder should exercise the greatest cautiol before deciding to which stallion the. will breed their mares. They shoul' demand nf the stallion owner that the