SEVENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART X. 659 



to the breed with which we began. If, however, the farmers in the 

 neighborhood are breeding some other kind, we would not hesitate to 

 adopt the popular breed and stick to that in the future. It is a great 

 advantage to the farmer in making sales if the farmers in a township 

 or county have adopted any one of the breeds. 



The next important thing is selecting the sire. We speak of this par- 

 ticularly because that will be one of the duties of the horse breeder in 

 the next month or two now. First, we would study the sires in the neigh- 

 borhood carefully, and select one of the best draft conformation and free 

 from hereditary defects, such as spavin, curb, ringbone, ophthalmia, etc. 



If we were satisfied with his individual merit, we would look very 

 closely into the pedigree. Don't let any man flash a piece of paper with a 

 big seal on it and call it a pedigree. It is an open secret that there are 

 quite a number of bogus herd registers that issue so-called pedigrees that 

 are of no earthly value. See to it that the horse is not merely eligible 

 to record, but is actually recorded in some stud book recognized by the 

 government. 



The General Assembly of the State of Iowa has recently enacted a law 

 which will protect farmers from imposition along this line. It is pub- 

 lished elsewhere in this issue. 



Thousands of dollars of good money have been thrown away in the past 

 by farmers who have started well in the draft horse line, thought they 

 must have a little more speed and crossed these draft mares with a 

 standard bred horse, and then, thinking to add a little more style, prob- 

 ably used a Morgan or Arabian after the first cross, and as a result have 

 the farm well stocked with mongrels, too light to pull, to slow to trot, 

 practically good for nothing; horses that no man cares to buy in the 

 market. It is time to avoid this common mistake in the future. Don't be 

 afraid to engage in horse breeding to the limit of the good, sound brood 

 mares needed on the farm, and to no greater extent than this. But breed 

 intelligently, and, having bred intelligently, feed intelligently, and they 

 will make you good money. 



WEANING, FEEDING, AND HANDLING COLTS. 



Dr. J. C. Curryer, in Wallaces^ Farmer. 



So much depends on the mature usefulness and consequent value of 

 horses on their very early education, weaning, feeding, and handling, that 

 the subject can not be dealt with lightly, but with the greatest care in the 

 essential particulars, illustrations, and as far as possible, all the details 

 that go to make up success and profit in the business of horse production. 



Weaning time, all things considered, is the most critical period of the 

 colt's existence in a general way; but if the little fellow has been handled 

 as recommended in the previous chapter — made to believe that man is his 

 friend instead of an enemy — half of the difficulties of weaning are already 

 overcome. 



The age of weaning depends on so many conditions that it is hard to lay 

 down any specific time. Some colts have been so well nourished and 

 grown that they may be weaned at four months of age better than others 

 at six months. 



