194 Missouri Agricultural Report. 



If we are to make the most of our opportunities, there are a few 

 points which we may well consider. The first great factor which will 

 help us to build up or tear down our horse breeding industry is cross- 

 breeding. To produce horses that will sell for high prices it is extremely 

 essential that we do not mix the breeds. The practice of breeding trot- 

 ,ting and saddle horses to draft mares should cease, and vice versa. In 

 mating mares great care should be taken to mate them to stallions of their 

 own breed. This method of cross-breeding alone has cost Missouri a 

 great deal of money in the past years. Marfy of our breeders have dis- 

 covered this fact and have discontinued the practice, and it is to be hoped 

 that many more will see the greater profits in the other method in the 

 near future. 



The other factor which will have much to do with our standing as 

 a horse producing State in the future is the use of high class sires. This 

 practice is growing each year, but there are used far too many inferior 

 and unsound stallions in this State for its best welfare. Past experiences 

 have proven that five to fifteen dollars difference in the stallion fee has 

 resulted in an increased profit of from $50 to $100. To prove this to 

 one 's own satisfaction it is only necessary to observe the results of breed- 

 ing operations of others, to compare the horses produced and the prices 

 received by men who use only the very best sires obtainable with those 

 who use only the very cheapest sires available. 



There are these two factors which we must bear in mind if we expect 

 to fill the position in the horse breeding world which another has made it 

 possible for us to fill, namely, the cessation of the practice of cross- 

 breeding, and second, the use of the high class sire. 



