538 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Let us get rid of the notion that we are absolutely dependent on the 

 breeders of the old world for any kind of live stock. In some parts of 

 America, and often in many parts of it, the soil and climate are of a 

 character to grow these equal to any part of the world and cheaper than 

 any other part of the world. The old world will take all the good horses 

 we can grow, and at good prices. The only question for us to consider 

 is how to go about it to get the best blood, and then how to develop 

 it in the best way. 



RAISE DRAFTERS IN THE CORN BELT. 

 farmers' tribune. 



There is perhaps no class of farm animals concerning which there is 

 more difference of opinion than horses. Whenever the horse topic is dis- 

 cussed at farmers' institutes and some one reads a paper on the advant- 

 ages in breeding heavy drafters on the farm, there are always half a 

 dozen men ready to show that the best all-around horse for the farmer is 

 what is termed the general-purpose horse. They claim that it costs more 

 to keep a heavy horse than a lighter weight animal; that the light horse 

 can do most of the farm work as well as the heavy animal, and that 

 he can do a great deal of it with greater ease. There is objection urged 

 against the drafter in the corn field; he is said to be unnecessarily heavy 

 for the drag; he is not the animal that can take the family to town in a 

 hurry; and there is only one place where a plea can be made in favor of 

 the drafter, and that is for heavy hauling. Even in this capacity it is 

 claimed that the light horse can often do as well as the heavy one 

 because our roads are poor and not well graded; there is usually a few 

 big hills somewhere between home and town for which the farmer must 

 load. By straining his small team a little bit and by taking a little more 

 time in going over the hills, many farmers claim they can haul as big 

 loads with the general-purpose horse as with the drafter. 



Such are the arguments usually advanced against the heavy horse and 

 it must be admitted that there is more or less truth in them. The larger 

 the horse the more it takes to keep him and he is not fitted for light 

 road work. At the same time it cannot be disputed that every man who 

 works a farm of 160 acres can make good use of at least one heavy team. 

 A team of mares that will weigh from 3,000 to 3,400 pounds is a most 

 valuable farm team. A span of mares of that weight, while in one sense 

 of the word they are heavier than is required, in another sense they are 

 better able to raise a pair of colts each year and do a lot of hard work at 

 the same time than are lighter mares of which there are altogether too 

 many in the country. There is one thing that cannot be disputed, heavy 

 horses are the most profitable when it comes to selling them. There has 

 been a growing demand for heavy drafters for the past ten years. This 



