1104 New York State Breeders' Association 



Ono strong objection which obtains against the pure-bred horses 

 of all the draft breeds is the age limit. Few of them live much 

 over 1-4 years, and it is more ditiicult to lind one above that age 

 than it is to find a trotter older than 25. Probably the reason 

 for this is that everything is sacrificed for size and weight. They 

 are heavily fed on special foods to develop these qualities, and 

 pampered in their handling for the same purpose so much that 

 when subjected to hard work and exposure they succumb quickly. 

 This characteristic is noted to some extent among the grades of 

 the draft families, though in a less degree. 



The sum of the objections to the pure-bred draft horses for 

 ISTew York farmers is that they are too large. For that reason 

 they move too slowly, they eat too much and their lives are too 

 short. A New York farmer no more needs an 1,800 pound horse, 

 except possibly as a breeding asset for the market, then he needs a 

 dirigible balloon. The sphere of this typo of horse, and the 

 only practicable one, is the heavy traffic of the city, hauling 

 brewery wagons or immense loads for contractors, at a slow pace. 

 There his immense weight and mighty strength gives him an ad- 

 vantage possessed by no other breed. The draft grade comes next 

 for consideration and seems to be the best proposition that we 

 have had. Many practical men regard this type as the very best 

 for the farmer to raise. Mr. Grattan above referred to, an ex- 

 perienced breeder and successful farmer, whom I have long re- 

 garded as one of the most intelligent and best posted men in the 

 country in these pursuits, recently wrote me as follows : " For the 

 farmer who wants more weight than the average trotter possesses, 

 the best in the Percheron-trotter cross, originated by that great 

 breeder, the late Chas. A. DeGraff, who was planning just before 

 his untimely death to buy a large number of Percheron mares to 

 breed to a trotting stallion, his experiments in that direction 

 having proved such a grand success. In the thousands of instances 

 since, in this section, that cross has been tried both ways, the 

 excellence of the individuals thus produced has been established 

 beyond cavil. I can furnish names of successful farmers in 

 plenty, who will testify to this, and our farms are like New York 

 farms. My opinions are based upon observation and correct in- 

 formation." ^\r. Grnttan further says: "The Percheron has 



