THERE'S STILL \ MARKET 

 FOR GOOD HORSES 



WILBUH ROTH AND ONE OF THE BLONDES 

 "The best droit horses in the world come from Flanders." 



V^^^OR a decade beginning in 1910 

 ^""^^^ the average price of a draft 



:f 



average price 

 horse at Chicago never fell be- 

 low $200. The year 1907 topped a 

 quarter century of horse prices when the 

 average price paid at Omaha was $241. 

 In 1908 the average price dropped to 

 $180, then levelled off to slightly above 

 the $200 mark until the post-war crash 

 of 1920. 



With nearly 15,000,000 fewer horses 

 and mules in the country than there 

 were before the war and with more 

 than eight out of 10 farms of substantial 

 size sporting a tractor or two, you would 

 think that the day of the professional 

 draft horse breeder and importer had 

 passed along with petticoats and red- 

 wheeled buggies. 



That is you might think so until you 

 dropped in on Farm Bureau member 

 Wilbur Roth of Roth Brothers, Belgian 

 horsemen of Morton, Tazewell county, 

 and stood wide-eyed while he led out of 

 his big barn some of the finest sorrels 

 and blondes in the famous breed to be 

 found in the country, then listened as he 

 told you about his sale two years ago 

 when 52 head including six foals fetched 

 an average price of $390.00. 



Wilbur Roth isn't alarmed about the 

 future market for good horses, tractors 

 or no tractors. He figures that most 

 farmers will find it profitable to keep a 



ROTHS MAJOR de 

 MALMAISON 



Grand Champion 

 twice (1929 and 1931) at 

 the International Live- 

 stock Exposition, at the 

 State Fairs of Illinois, 

 Iowa, Nebraska the 

 same year, and at the 

 Waterloo Belgian Show. 



few around for such chores and odd jobs 

 as hauling manure and straw, threshing, 

 filling silo, making hay and plowing corn. 

 And then there is always a ready market 

 for the big beauties that he and Archie 

 Robinson, his neighbor Percheron breed- 

 er, bring over from Belgium and France, 

 among the more prosperous "agricultural- 

 ists" who make their money in the city 

 and spend it on the farm. 



Roth Brothers got into the horse busi- 

 ness like most of us acquired our politics. 

 They inherited it. Their father bred high 

 grade Belgians and always kept a few 

 good purebred stallions around to sell 

 and route about the county for service 

 fees. 



"We have been importing Belgiatis for 

 several years," Wilbur said. "We have 

 brought over about 50 purebred mares 

 and some of the best stallions ever seen 

 in this country. There's old Major de 

 Malmaison, for instance, 16 years old 

 now but he was grand champion twice 

 at the International in Chicago in 1929 

 and 1931, also a purple winner at the 

 Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska state fairs 

 and at the Waterloo Belgian Show. He 

 sired some of our best show stuff. 



"The best draft horses in the world 

 come from Flanders, first because they 

 have the right kind of grass there and 

 secondly the Belgian government has 

 subsidized fine draft horse breeding for 



BELGIAN COLT SHOW AT MORTON SEVERAL YEARS AGO SPONSORED BY ROTH BROTHERS. 



Jf> 





-\^ 



'n 



•V-* ^ 



i'Af 



