462 Missouri Agricultural Report. 



ing industry, that he will have a great many misunderstandings 

 removed before he gets through with that line of work. 



First, how do I produce a horse that commands the highest 

 market price and that satisfies my ambition as a breeder? One is 

 just as essential to me as the other. I breed Percherons and Clydes- 

 dales. I learned early in my experience that there is no sire too 

 good for my own use. Before I was able to own one of my own, such 

 as I thought suitable for my use, I would travel many miles, even 

 ship my mares many miles, to find one that would beget the kind 

 of a colt that I wanted. Of course if you are extensively engaged 

 in the business you must of necessity own a sire of your own, and 

 in answer to the gentleman who has brought up this ever-present 

 question of being swindled by the organization of horse companies 

 by unscrupulous dealers, I will say there are reputable dealers in 

 horses the same as there are honest lawyers and merchants, and 

 men engaged in other lines of activity, and to guard against these 

 iniquities it is only safe to deal with that kind of a man, and when 

 I first determined to buy a stallion on my own account, I sought out 

 what I considered a reputable importer, and asked not only that 

 they sell me a horse, but they assist me in selecting one that they 

 believed would answer my purpose, and it was just as much to their 

 interest that they give me honest service in selecting such a horse 

 as that I buy such a horse, and they gave me that assistance and 

 I do not regret that I purchased that first Percheron stallion from 

 Dunham of Wayne, 111. I have dealt with him ever since that time, 

 buying several stallions, and I have never yet found him other than 

 a reliable, upright man, and this can be said truly about many other 

 firms dealing in stallions in this country. 



Very well, now we have the sire. If you are engaged in pure- 

 bred horse breeding, it involves the investment of a large sum 

 of money in mares. You cannot buy today a first-class pure-bred 

 Percheron or Clydesdale mare for much less than $1,000. If you 

 intend to engage in the business on a large scale, of course this 

 involves a large outlay of money, but as ordinary farmers pursuing 

 the business in the average way, you doubtless will have common, 

 ordinary mares, such as are raised here in Missouri, and from 

 these mares selecting the best ones you can you can grade up until 

 after you have made a few crosses you will have an excellent draft 

 mare if you properly select sires. 



First of all, breed in line. Don't mix them up. If you are 

 breeding Percherons, select the best sire you can find of that 

 breed, and then breed that sire to your best mares. These mares' 



