630 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



bill with the owner of the stallion. Give the mare reasonable attention 

 so as to give her some assistance should she need it. After foaling give 

 a reasonable time for the mare to recover before sending away to pasture 

 or putting to work. It is a decided advantage to both dam and foal to 

 give them a small feed of grain twice a day even in pasture. No difference 

 how good the sire and dam or how well bred, the colt is always better for 

 a strong case of grain bin. During the colt's early life it is necessary 

 to guard it against accident as far as possible. The barbed wire has been 

 one of the chief causes of these. We venture the assertion there has been 

 enough money lost the past six or eight years, in horses alone, from barbed 

 to replace every fence in Calhoun county with a safe four foot web fence. 

 We are hoping the day will come when barbed wire will not be known on 

 the farm except when woven into a safe web fence. As soon as the colt 

 reaches two years of age and not later than three years his harness educa- 

 tion should begin. Now even if you have a quiet, easy going colt don't 

 break it, to use a common expression, by hitching it with a slow, poky old 

 horse, to a wagon and then whoop and yell and try to scare it into going 

 and if the colt gets scared and runs or sulks and won't y<>, lam hits' it 

 with a rawhide and just teach it enough so you can herd it across a field. 

 •A good plan is to harness it up and let stand in the stable for a day or 

 two. Then fasten hames so no part will come loose and turn into the barn 

 lot for a week. Then hitch it to a cart or wagon and tie to side of a barn 

 or corn crib or other suitable place and let stand for an hour or two. After 

 a couple or three lessons of this kind the colt is ready for his first driving 

 lesson. For the first six months the colt should be taught to walk and 

 walk fast. If you wish to teach a colt to walk four or five miles per hour 

 the first six months of his education is the time to teach it. It can be 

 taught to trot any time. During the rush of spring work be careful in 

 feeding. See that the collar and harness fit well so the colt does not become 

 chaffed and sore, and learn some disagreeable trick from this cause. Keep 

 the colt thrifty and in good spirits and one great help to do this is, turn- 

 ing the horses out an hour or two every evening where they can get a good 

 bite of grass as grass is nature's best tonic. Keep the colt growing and 

 thrifty and we believe the farmer will have no reason to complain that it 

 does not pay to raise horses. Remember that when you grow a colt that 

 you are not the only one to please but you must figure on the future buyer 

 as well and work with a definite object in view. 



THE POLLED ANGUS BREED OF CATTLE. 



Wm. Miller, before Buena Vista County Farmers' Institute. 

 The question is asked why I prefer Polled Angus cattle to Polled Dur- 

 ham, Short-horn and Hereford breeds. Endeavoring to answer this ques- 

 tion, will state a few pertinent facts, leaving my hearers each to draw his 

 own conclusions. To begin with I am a breeder of Angus cattle, by acci- 

 dent rather than choice, being a Short-horn man by heredity, and early 



