Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1917-06-23
DRAFT HORSE
SHORTAGE IN
us. SERIOUS
GREAT BRITAIN, ITALY AND FRANCE
HAVE ALREADY TAKEN MILLION
AND A QUARTER HEAD OF
HORSES FROM THE U. S.
STATE VETERINARIAN OF NEBRASKA
OF OPINION THAT HORSE RAISERS
SHOULD TAKE IMMEDIATE
STEPS FOR AN INCREASE.
fBy Associated Press.)

AAAN~o1ANs ANNb.s 1uiC -J.-indt till~
state and the whole United States is fac
ing a serious shortage in draft horses and
mules is the belief of j. s. Anderson, state
veterinarian. Great Britain, Italy and
France have already taken one and one
fourth million animals out of this country.
and with the United States getting ready
for hostilities and requisitioning n quarter
million animals as a starter, he fears there
will not be enough left for domestic pur-
poses.
1t requires horses and mules Mt least
four years old TO do heavy work, and the
armies of the allied nations will not take
them at a younger age, Mr.. Anderson ex-
planned. An extra year is required for the
production of a colt after breeding. This
means that breeders who start now to in
crease the equine product will not he able
to achieve substantial results. 20 far n
relieving the prospective shortage i con
cerned, for five years.
Before the war, Mr.. Anderson said, the
market for horses and mules wa~ limited
and the demand did not always come ur ia
the supply. When the war broke ont and
foreign buyers came To the United States.
j. was regarded a n golden opportunity t.
unload the surplus stock at good prices,
but breeders "a "A rule. did not expect III.
war Ia last long enough To make any great
difference permanently. They supposed the
production Of horses and mules would
keep pace with the demand and hence there
was no special reason for Systematically
increasing the number Of colts.
The state veterinarian suggests that
breeders will find il profitable 10 them
selves. and at the same time do their coun-
try a service, If they will breed mares in
the fall as well as in the spring. That is.
ii foal be not secured from breeding this
spring, the same mare be bred again this
fall.
Too many, he says, nave followed the old
custom of breeding only for spring colts,
which was well enough in the old days
when farms were not equipped to care for
them during the winter; but nowadays.
with good warm barns and other facilities
at hand, he thinks colts can be raised more
cheaply and better horses produced from
the fall breeding than spring, also the
mares will thus be avilable for farm labor
during the crop season.
A class of horses was taken by the Eu-
ropean buyers which the growers of this
country were glad TO get off their hands.
The type they preferred was an intermed-
late one, too large for first class road
horses, but not large enough for heavy
draft work. The United States govern
ment, OF the other hand, buys high grade
saddle horses and draft horses for army
use.
Mr.. Anderson said he talked recently
with a buyer of horses for the British gov
eminent, and was told that much of the al
lies recent success during recent months
has been due to their possession of plenty
of horses and mules for moving heavy guns
and bringing up supplies. The Germans
been unable to get horses fast enough
to take places of those killed in service,
he asserted, and "a a result have had tol
abandon many cannon when conducting
retreats, many of which guns the allies are
using.