80 DOMESTIC ANIMALS, DAIRYING, ETC. 



until the supply can meet it, and as long as conditions in business 

 are good there is little, if any, reason to fear an oversupply. The 

 rise in prices of horses in the United States has been such that the 

 export trade has practically ceased except for the best grades of light 

 horses. The European market can not pay the American prices. 

 Should domestic prices decline to the European standard, the export 

 trade would begin again, and this would prevent them from falling 

 below a profitable level. 



The second reason is that by producing its own horses and mules 

 the South has stock already adapted to its use. No time is lost in 

 getting an animal to do his best under southern conditions. Further- 

 more, they would be produced at cost, without having to include in 

 the expense bill a profit to any other producer or middleman. Not 

 only that, but after a horse or mule is 2 years old he will earn his 

 way, and a moderate amount of work is good for him. In this way 

 the animal has been raised to 5 years of age at a minimum cost. 

 Not only is all this a great advantage, but the breeding of the stock 

 is known, or if not it can readily be ascertained. This is of im- 

 mense importance. If a farmer owns a good horse or mule, natur- 

 ally he wants another like him, and if the sire is within reach it is 

 an easy matter to breed mares to him with a reasonable expectation 

 that the sire will duplicate his previous performances. 



Let us digress for a moment to point out more in detail the value 

 of knowing something of an animal's ancestry before buying. The 

 laws of heredity are powerful, and they work not through the parents 

 alone, but through grandparents, great-grandparents, and even more 

 remote ancestors. If a line of breeding is proposed which is com- 

 posed entirely of animals of merit, the mating is almost sure to 

 result satisfactorily ; but if there is a stain in it, if some animal was 

 below standard, its faults will crop out somewhere in its descendants. 

 That is the reason why pure breeding is surer than haphazard breed- 

 ing, and why it is undesirable to breed to scrubs. It is for this reason 

 that the persistent use of purebred sires of the same breed is sure to 

 show great improvement over the original foundation stock. If for 

 no other reason, then, southern farmers should breed their own 

 animals so that they can know their breeding and use this knowl- 

 edge for future benefit. 



The third reason why the South Carolina farmers should breed 

 horses and mules is that the State has excellent possibilities for stock 

 raising, and that when the supply is increased beyond local needs 

 the demands of outside markets can be filled. The greatest horse- 

 raising State in the country is Iowa, and the greatest horse market 

 for the number handled is" Chicago. However, it is estimated that 

 at least half of these horses are sent from Chicago to other points, 

 some for final sale, others for further fitting for market. The 

 highest class of horses will generally be found in the East, in New 

 York and Boston, and the highest prices for good horses are to be 

 had in these cities. Now, if an Iowa farmer sells a horse to a Chicago 

 buyer, and the horse eventually goes to New York, that buyer's 

 profit and the other expenses incident to sale must be included in 



