THIRD ANNUAL YEAR BOOK — PART XI. ()27 



the men to provide means for just such opportunities. For there is none 

 whom we would rather please than those who make the home and give 

 the cheer. 



Home! What a world of meaning that word implies! What in the 

 world is nearer and dearer than the home. It is to the homes of the land 

 that we must look for the strength of the nation. Therefore we should 

 strive to make the home what it should be — not just a place to go to when- 

 convenient, but a place from which we cannot keep away. A place where 

 peace and harmony prevail; a place where amid the cares and turmoils of 

 this world we can go and find rest, comfort and contentment. 



Then let us make the most of these days of social and business inter- 

 course and enter into the full enjoyment and profit of the occasion, and 

 inspire one another by our presence, our advice, and our experiences, to 

 make the most of the things at hand. 



THE BREEDING ENT OP THE FARM HORSE. 



T. .17. Wilkinson, before tin > County Farmers' Institute. 



The farm is the nursery of the horse. Here it is that the horse spends 

 his colthood days, if not his entire life. How to make the production of 

 this class of the domestic animals more profitable is a problem that con- 

 fronts the farmer at the present time. How to increase the profits and 

 reduce the chances of loss are the questions the farmer and breeder are 

 trying to solve. The first cause of loss is in the selection of the brood mare. 

 There are but very few farmers, if they own a choice cow, sow or ewe that 

 will sell that female for the common market price. Not a man present 

 could be induced to sell such a female, even if offered a premium, but how 

 is it with the mare. If a farmer raises a colt that developes into a mare 

 of exceptional merit, or if he happens to buy such a colt or mare and some 

 shrewd dealer comes along and offers a slight advance over what common 

 horses are ordinarily worth and which may not be more than half her value 

 on the market. We will venture to say that forty-nine men out of fifty 

 will take the dealer's money. Then when the time comes to select the brood 

 mare for the production of the farm and market horse, if they have a de- 

 crepit old mare that is no possible use for anything else they propose mak 

 ing her a matron, even though they have reason to believe they are wast- 

 ing their time. If they fail then the stallion is to blame. Or maybe the 

 farmer has a balky mare or one so vicious that she is unsafe to work and 

 so notorious that she cannot be traded off or sold. This animal is selected 

 for the brood mare, regardless of future results. If the colt inherits these 

 vices, as the chances are it will, the farmer suffers a loss. If you do not 

 own a good brood mare buy one or else don't try to raise colts. 



When the farmer comes to select a stallion, as a rule he does not take 

 into consideration the defects of his mare. Nor does he take into consid- 

 eration the good qualities or defects of the stallion. Generally, one of 

 three things decides his choice — the size of the stallion, the size of the 



