82 DOMESTIC ANIMALS, DAIRYING, ETC. 



southern conditions. So far as soil, climate, pasture, and forage are 

 concerned, the conditions in the South are very nearly ideal, but 

 there are other circumstances to be considered, chief of which are 

 the use of negro labor and the general inferiority of the stock which 

 must be used as the foundation on which to build. As to the negroes, 

 no suggestions will be advanced except that many horsemen prefer 

 them for hostlers and grooms. Throughout Kentucky the negro 

 seems to be the favorite stable hand in many of the best breeding 

 establishments, and it is well known that Mr. Ed Geers, the famous 

 trotting horseman, will not have a white man in his stables if he 

 can help it. These facts seem to show that the negro has possibili- 

 ties as a horse handler. 



Necessity for the Improvement of Native Stock. The inferior- 

 ity of the native horse stock is mentioned not to find fault unneces- 

 sarily, but to get a point from which to approach the subject. We 

 might as well be frank and recognize that a candid acknowledg- 

 ment of defects in the animals under consideration will better enable 

 us to reach a logical and definite conclusion. The class of horses 

 which supply the southern markets is not a desirable one. Consult 

 the market reports for St. Louis, Kansas City, Omaha, and Chicago, 

 and it will be found that the classes known as southern horses, south- 

 ern chunks, etc., bring the lowest prices of any. They are variable 

 in type, ranging from very inferior light chunks to a pretty fair 

 type of drivers. As a general rule, they are horses which the Central 

 West can well afford to sell at any price and the South can ill afford 

 to buy, no matter how cheap they may be. This is said solely from 

 the breeder's standpoint. They may be the best farm horses for 

 southern conditions, and on that point the southern farmer's opinion 

 is more valuable than that of the writer, but the writer can not resist 

 the temptation to say that it is doubtful if they are more valuable 

 than their market price would indicate. Two things are certain 

 most of the horses which the South has are obtained from the North, 

 and the quality of these horses is generally the poorest of any sold 

 on northern markets. It is not, therefore, unreasonable to conclude 

 that, judged solely as horseflesh, the southern horse is not a very 

 superior animal. 



Whatever the value of the native southern stock it is there, and 

 the mares must be used as the foundation for any improvement which 

 may be made. Improvement should be begun gradually, without 

 any expectation of jumping from mediocrity to the highest excel- 

 lence at one bound, and it should begin with the idea of improving, 

 first, the general average of the farm horse of the South. 



The first step is the elimination of unsoundness, which should be 

 done as rapidly as possible. In selecting mares for breeding only 

 those should be chosen which are sound in wind and free from ring- 

 bones, sidebones, curbs, and spavins. The tendency for unsoundness 

 to appear is hereditary, and the presence of unsoundness makes a 

 horse practically unsalable. 



For most sections of the South the next step should be the in- 

 crease of size, and this should be done somewhat gradually. The in- 



