1110 New York State Breeders' Association 



will bring from two to three hundred dollars. We can break him 

 ourselves and sell him and get 100 per cent, on a dolhir every 

 time. 



The skeptical may say that we cannot raise good cluinks from 

 such mares as I have described, but we, as breeders of cattle, sheep 

 and swine, all know that the characteristics of the pure-bred animal 

 will predominate when crossed with an animal of mixed breeding. 

 Do not, under any circumstances, use a grade sire. I have been 

 cited to numerous cases of runty colts with heads and feet much 

 too large for their bodies, as being the result of the breeding that T 

 am now advocating; but, upon investigation, I invarial)ly found 

 that the sires of these colts were themselves grades, and of course 

 their blood being of a mixed character, there was nothing to pre- 

 dominate over the mixed blood of the mare, the result being any- 

 thing that it might happen to be. 



JSTeither would I buy one of the big draft stallions to breed to 

 the class of mares that most of us have. There are a great many 

 pure draft stallions that do not weigh over sixteen or seventeen 

 hundred pounds. One of these can be bought much cheaper than 

 the big " ton boys " can, and I think that they will give better 

 satisfaction in making the first cross. 



Probably most of you have read the report of Secretary Wilson 

 regarding the experiments that the Government is making in breed- 

 ing horses. Among other things he says that at the Morgan farm 

 in Vermont there are nineteen stallions, forty-four mares and six 

 geldings, the latter used as work horses. There were but eleven 

 foals produced. I think that the reason for so few colts was those 

 six geldings used for farm work. An idle animal is generally a 

 poor breeder, and a lot of mares and stallions that cannot do the 

 work to raise what they eat, are a pretty poor lot. At our place, 

 we have a Belgian stallion that passed his first year with us as a 

 gentleman of leisure, and we got three colts to show for it. Last 

 year I put him on the farm to work by the side of a big mare. 

 They drew the sulky plow, the corn harvester and did the heaviest 

 of the work generally. The stallion served 43 mares and I think 

 that at least 35 of them are with foal. 



As an illustration of just what we can do along this line of 

 breeding : I bought a branded western mare, a wild broncho right 



