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counted for. If a mare goes lame, many farmers will 

 breed from her and risk all consequences. In only 

 too many cases, also, they consider the service fee 

 of a stallion more than his merits. They will engage 

 a stallion for a pound or two less, forgetting, by this 

 false economy, that there may easily be ;^40 difference 

 in value between the progeny of a first-class and the 

 progeny of an inferior stallion. 



Everything in the nature of splints, sidebones, 

 ringbones, brittle hoofs, sand cracks, curbs, spavins, 

 stringhalts, broken wind, crib -biting, wind -sucking, 

 and all the other diseases that horse-flesh is heir to, 

 should be carefully avoided. Although many of the 

 diseases mentioned are produced by overwork and 

 strains, yet a number of them are hereditary, and will 

 appear in colts even before they are handled. In 

 addition to the foregoing, soil and climate are also 

 important factors in the production of good stock. 



BREEDING FROM OLD STOCK. 



It is generally a mistake to breed from old stock, 

 as the progeny is never so robust and durable as 

 when bred from young matured stock. At the same 

 time, very young mares should be mated to moder- 

 ately old stallions, and vice versa. In this way there 

 is greater aptitude to conception, and the progeny 

 are better than when either very young or very old 

 animals are mated together. 



Although it is difficult to say at what age mares 

 are best adapted for breeding, it stands to reason that 



