SIXTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK — PART VII. 547 



Before returning home I led them up to my mother's house and called her 

 out to see them. She was in very poor health, but she came out, looked 

 them over and talked a bit. When I started away she said: "Be good to 

 her, Dan, for she will make you more money than anything you have ever 

 bought." This spring I sold the first colt (the stallion) for $250 at one 

 year and eleven months old, weighing 1,470' pounds and black as a crow. 

 I have the mare in foal left, seven years old and sound as a pewter spooa, 

 also a hondsome yearling filly seven-eighths grade. 



My mother's words are coming true. She only lived a short time after 

 that. 



THE BROOD MARE AND HEil FOAL. 



BY JAMES VINCENT, D. V. M. 



The brood mare, one of the noblest animals that grace the- farm pas- 

 tures, is many times not given the care and attention due her. Year after 

 year she rewards her careful and thoughtful owner with the best speci- 

 mens of his herd, which, in due time, we see him driving to town hitched 

 to his family carriage, or to a load of produce from his farm; in either 

 case it needs no telling that he is proud of the offspring of the old mare 

 on the farm. 



The owner of a brood mare looks forward to the following spring when 

 he expects to see — he hardly knows what, unless he is a thoughtful stu- 

 dent of the law that "Like begets like." Even then we sometimes see 

 disappointment on his countenance when he looks for the first time on her 

 offspring. With a studied gaze he is thinking of the surroundings and 

 conditions that she has passed through — may I say enjoyed — during the 

 previous year? Has her life been one of constant hard work, ever fatigued 

 and seldom having a good day's rest? 



The thoughtful ov/ner of the brood mare will first see that she is bred 

 in her line, no out-breeding or mongrel crosses, that so often bring dis- 

 appointment. 



The food of the mare should be of the best, given in moderate quanti- 

 ties, so that she will always have a keen appetite, relish her meals and 

 always meet you with a kindly call when it is feeding time, or whan she 

 hears the feed can rattle. Always see that the food is eaten up to the last 

 grain at each feeding time. This should consist ©f a little bran and oats, 

 possibly an ear or two of corn. This time of the year , if the mare is com- 

 pelled to work hard, she will require more grain, so plenty of bone and 

 muscle-making food should be provided, such as bran, oats and a little 

 wheat; also a little barley or speltz is good. Care should be given at all 

 times to see that all feed is free from dust or mold of any sort. 



If the mare is not required to be kept in harness she should be allow- 

 ed to run to pasture in the warmer seasons of the year where she 



