118 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



In regard to raising a colt, — the important point is in the 

 feeding. When a farmer is raising good calves he feeds them 

 well, but go to almost any farm which raises one or two colts 

 and you will find them just thrown off in any corner where 

 they can get a nibble now and then, and allowed to grow 

 themselves. If you really want to raise a good colt, begin 

 about two or three months before it comes by taking care of 

 the dam. She can be worked right up to within a week before 

 the time comes. After the colt comes, the mare should be fed 

 for milk just as a cow is fed. If you are careful as to these 

 points there is no question but what you can raise good colts. 

 I am expecting quite a number of colts this spring, and I can 

 almost tell you exactly what those colts will be, outside of 

 their color. I believe that if there is any animal well worthy 

 of attention it is the horse. If you go through our main 

 streets and drive downtown with one or two good horses, all 

 the children and grown people will stand and look at that 

 team until it is out of sight; but you may go by with all the 

 automobiles in the world and nobody knows that an automo- 

 bile has gone by. This shows that the love for the horse is 

 still here, and I hope it will stay here, and that there will be 

 an increase in the raising of horses. 



The Chairman. Now, gentlemen, we are all interested in 

 horses, and any of us who were at Mr. Richardson's place last 

 summer know that he is able to answer any questions. I pre- 

 sume there are some who would like to ask him something in 

 regard to breeding colts, or any other question on this line. 



Question. I would like to ask how much it costs to raise 

 a colt to the age of four years. 



Mr. Richardson. The cost of raising a colt to the age of 

 four years will depend altogether on the circumstances. If you 

 are on a farm, like myself, I put a whole lot of labor in it be- 

 cause I am trying to produce as good a horse as anybody can 

 produce, and by the time those colts I raise are four years old 

 I want them to take the blue ribbon anywhere they go. On 

 the farm it doesn't cost any more to keep the mare, whether 

 you raise a colt or not, to start with. You have to let that 

 mare lie idle for perhaps not over two weeks, and then you 



