Missouri Draft Horse Breeders' Association. 531 



there, and you can get the worth of it. We feed it ground, on 

 the pasture, and you don't find the animals passing any grain. 

 The animals get the full benefit of it. This roller which I am 

 using cost me $110, and I think for any man with a bunch of 

 horses it will pay for itself in a very short time. 



The question of alfalfa and clover has been brought up. 

 If you want a good pasture in the summer time when blue 

 grass gets dry use some field on which you think you have failed 

 in raising alfalfa. After weeds and wild grass, the worst enemy 

 of alfalfa is blue grass, and I suppose you pat yourselves on the 

 back as raising good blue grass. I think the blue grass that 

 comes up in the alfalfa at four years old is a blessing. Up to 

 that time your alfalfa will be six to ten inches above the blue 

 grass and the stock will take a part of each, so there is no danger 

 of bloating. 



There are varied circumstances under which we must 

 operate. When I brought that $225 mare over I admit she 

 wasn't the best mare in the world, but she has done well and 

 is still doing well, but as in all lines of live stock, the crux of the 

 thing would seem to be the sire. That has come to be so com- 

 monly believed that people don't pay the proper amount of 

 attention to the mares, and of course that is where a great 

 many fail. I am certain, however, that the sire is the point 

 of real consideration. With many of you your start would 

 probably be with a pair of mares. Every farmer should have 

 at least one or two good draft mares. The value of the draft 

 mare is largely dependent upon the draft sire that you have at 

 command. I don't believe that it pays anyone, and I strongly 

 advised a friend of mine who was bound on buying a very high- 

 priced mare at a sale not to do so unless he intended to send 

 that mare away to be bred. In making this selection of the draft 

 sire you should simply bear in mind the points that we have all 

 been harping on, but I think certain things we should look for 

 in drafters. It seems to me that the size would come through 

 the sire. I don't believe in getting the size through the mare. 

 But admitting that you have the size to come through the sire, 

 the next thing that we want is what would be the quality of the 

 sire. I don't want to be misunderstood. When I mean or say 

 size I mean size sufficient. I don't think a person who raises 

 pure-bred draft horses would want to court a 1,600-pound 

 draft sire. In that respect the size would be the controlling 

 factor. We will assume that the draft sire should weigh 1,800 



