22b MISSOURI AGRICULTURAL REPORt. 



out and weaned in the spring. They have the green herbage to feed 

 upon and are no trouble to wean. I think every farmer should keep 

 a half dozen mares, because if you raise the right quality of horses 

 there is always a demand for them. It costs no more to raise them than 

 it does to raise steers, and they will bring double, treble and sometimes 

 quadruple the price if of the right quality. I have 80 head now on 

 my farm. Horses are no more trouble to raise than so many sheep, if 

 you have got pasturage for them. It is true I have got a never-failing 

 stream of water running through the center of my farm, so that i 

 am not compelled to water them ; and I want to tell you that a good 

 stream of water, fed by springs that run continually during the )ear, 

 is a most valuable feature on a farm. Every stock-breeder knows 

 that — he does not have to depend on wind mills or gasoline engines, 

 or anything else. The price of standard bred horses is very satisfactory 

 always if they are of the proper quality. How many of them, even 

 those raised by farmers, have brought several thousand dollars each? If a 

 farmer has been able to raise one of these he has got a mortgage lifter or 

 a good sum of money to deposit in the bank. I don't advocate that all farm- 

 ers should breed this stock ; but they should if they have an aptitude for 

 it, and don't want to go into it for gambling purposes (and most of them 

 do not). You can use the colts on the farm when they are about two or 

 three years old; if you want to run little errands, you can drive them, 

 and in that way you are developing them; and if they show any unusual 

 action, or speed, or style, there is always some sharp man who keeps 

 his eye on them and will pay good prices for them; and men like good 

 horses. Our fairs are not successful unless we have the attraction of 

 races. Man was created to admire, next to a beautiful woman, a beauti- 

 ful horse. Kentucky is noted for its beautiful women and magnihcent 

 horses, and you will never find a Kentuckian whose admiration doesn't 

 turn in that direction, and people from other states are much like Ken- 

 tuckians in that respect. 



In raising horses, it is just like raising any other kind of stock; 

 the young stock especially should have good care and good treatment; 

 they should be housed in the winter, especially over night; they should 

 have good feed. I have found no forage that produces so much growth 

 in the young animal as alfalfa hay ; it is an indispensable thing to have 

 on every farm; you must raise alfalfa and cow peas or some other le- 

 guminous crop if you would keep up the fertility of your land; if you 

 would raise good crops of corn, you must raise alfalfa, clover or some 

 such crop. I think we are coming to the point where every farmer can 

 raise alfalfa. If it can be raised so successfully on the white clay soils 

 of Ohio, where the crawfish fiourish, how mucli more successful should 



