THE HORSE FOR THE FARM AND THE FARMER. 9 1 



slow motioned, draft horse of the prairie. That it can do fair 

 service, is faithful and willing there is no question, but it grew 

 under other conditions and as a rule is not fitted to the bracing, 

 energetic life of this climate. It can neither inspire pride in the 

 farm nor the farmer, and pride is the one factor which dominates 

 life. 



Make the distinction clear and sharp between the trappy, fast 

 walking, bold draft horse, walking more than four miles an hour, 

 and the one already described. In the one case you can plow 

 an acre in three to four hours ; in the other it requires from six 

 to eight, and New England agriculture has no place today for 

 six to eight-hour plowing. Too many ox horses are burdening 

 our farms which might be enriched by trappy, prompt, native 

 drivers, and the sooner we get back towards the old New Eng- 

 land product, the Morgan type of a horse, the sooner will we 

 find enthusiasm permeating the atmosphere about the farm home. 



As a promoter of agriculture the high class road horse has no 

 superior. If it jerks one who follows the harrow or cultivator 

 out of old habits, it jerks in the conception of a larger, freer, 

 better life and this ambition we must have in these hustling, 

 bustling days when every industry is keyed to rapid motion and 

 competition forces renewed activity. 



Here is the situation which confronts the farmers of Maine, 

 a great horse famine, a sharp demand for high class stock, the 

 certainty that this must increase for some years, and breeding 

 well nigh at a standstill. 



Three classes of horses must be taken into account and the 

 peculiar characteristics of each distinct type, kept clear in mind 

 in any fair discussion of this question. There never will come 

 a day when the lover of the large, noble draft horse of size and 

 quality will not find profit in breeding to a choice, pure bred sire, 

 and right here is a lesson, the force of which is not appreciated. 

 Other countries have encouraged by liberal grants the breeding 

 of pure blooded stock, and with us, in every case where a well 

 selected male has come into the State he has left his imprint and 

 materially improved the quality of the stock in that section. 

 Certainly it will be found necessary in the breeding of draft stock 

 for the future market to rely upon these well bred, carefully 

 selected, pure bred males, clean in the head and throat, strong 

 in the neck, straight in the shoulder, to secure the perfect fitting 



