BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 83 



BREEDING MORGAN HORSES. 



On June 30, 1916, there were in use at the Morgan Horse Farm 

 near Middlebury, Vt., 15 mature stallions, 11 young stallions, and 

 41 mares, of which 20 are mature. Twenty-one mares were bred in 

 1915, and 18 of these are either heavy in foal or have dropped colts. 

 On May 1, 1916, one stallion and one gelding were disposed of. Two 

 stallions from the farm were sent to North Carolina for public 

 service. The Morgan stallion Scotland has recently been added to 

 the farm's breeding stock. The stallions in service at the Morgan 

 Horse Farm, besides being mated with the pure-bred Morgan mares 

 belonging to the department, are also bred to outside mares on the 

 army remount plan. 



The farm is now almost fully equipped. Some fencing remains 

 to be done, and here and there extensions to the tile drainage system 

 are needed. An experimental planting of alfalfa promises well, and 

 a larger planting is contemplated in 1917. 



BREEDING HORSES ON INDIAN RESERVATIONS. 



The work in breeding horses on Indian reservations is progressing 

 satisfactorily. Eight stallions are maintained under this project, 

 with headquarters at Eagle Butte, S. Dak. Four of the stallions are 

 Percherons, two are Standardbreds, and two are Saddlebreds. The 

 mares are bred in corrals which are adjacent to large pastures. All 

 the mares bred are owned by Indians, but they change hands fre- 

 quently, and some are sold to white men. For this reason it is some- 

 what difficult to have an exact count of all the foals produced by these 

 mares. During the calendar year 1915 approximately 240 foals were 

 dropped. Four hundred and twenty-six mares were bred in 1915 and 

 approximately 275 foals were dropped between January 1 and June 

 30. Three hundred and twelve mares were bred during the first six 

 months of the calendar year 1916. Most of the mares are bred in 

 July, some breeding being done through August and September. 

 An instance of the success of this work is the case of an Indian who 

 bred 36 mares in 1915. These mares dropped 31 living foals the fol- 

 lowing spring. This year this man turned in 108 head to breed, most 

 of which are being bred to the light stallions. The foals produced 

 by the Government-owned stallions are decidedly superior to those 

 sired by range-bred stallions. 



BREEDING HORSES FOR MILITARY PURPOSES. 



As a result of the experimental breeding work done in 1912 in 

 cooperation with the War Department at Front Royal, Va., and at 

 Middlebury, Vt., to determine the practicability of the plan of the 

 Agriculture and War Departments to encourage the production of 

 horses suitable for military purposes, colts sired by the Thoroughbred 

 stallions Henry of Navarre, Octagon, Footprint, and Belfry II, the 

 Morgan stallions, General Gates and Bennington, and the Saddle 

 stallion, Marshall King, -were eligible for purchase this year; and 

 out of the 28 colts inspected to June 30, 1916, by officers of the 

 Quartermaster's Department of the Army, 26 were accepted and are 

 now at remount stations. 



