106G New York State Breeders' Association 



feed tliose animals. Why ? It was simply because at that time 

 it cost us very little to produce them ; the land on which they were 

 grown was worth practically nothing. There was a time we could 

 grow a horse in Minnesota at $25 and make money in the busi- 

 ness, provided we were not very particular as to the horse-service. 

 There was a time when wheat, oats and barley were sold at 

 ridiculously low values. But those times are past. To-day the 

 very land the horses are grown on, that you are buying here, 

 is worth fully twice what it averages through the State of New 

 York. And raising these horses is costing us fully as much as it 

 does here. If this is true, it certainly seems that it stands you in 

 hand to investigate this matter ^and see if you cannot more profit- 

 ably grow some of these horses that you are now buying, rather 

 than expecting to buy them from us. 



I am certain that the age of the horse has not passed. Why? 

 Because wherever I go I find the horse is selling at more to-day 

 than any time I can remember. Now this would not be so if there 

 was not a demand for them. We say the tractor is going to take 

 largely the place of the horse on the farm. That is true in some 

 localities, but I do not believe it to be true on the average Minne- 

 sota farm and the average New York farm. Take it in the 

 provinces of Canada, and on those broad plains in Dakota, and 

 still further west, where grain raising is the main object of the 

 farmer, I believe that to be true; but on the other hand, on our 

 smaller-sized farms — where we have a variety of work to do, I 

 mean — the tractor is not profitable, where, for instance, the large 

 part of our work is trucking and cultivating. 



It is for these reasons that I believe the horse is still going to 

 be with us, and going to be a big factor in farming, both in New 

 York and in Minnesota. I learn that according to statistics 

 gathered by your state department, it costs at the present time in 

 the State of New York about $300 to maintain a team a year. 

 What are some of the items that go to make up this large expense ? 

 One big item is the initial cost of that team, and the deteriora- 

 tion in value. If wo can eliminate this it will largely reduce the 

 cost of the team during that year, or each year. I want to say 

 this, that during 35 years of farming in the State of Minnesota 

 I do not have to charge up one cent to the initial cost of that 



