270 THE HORSE 



may be devoted to the production of grain or hay or 

 dairy products. 



To secure one hundred dollars, more than 10,000 

 pounds of milk must ordinarily be produced. Perhaps 

 I am spending too much time in trying to energize 

 those who stand lowest in the art of horse-breeding, 

 and who find it easier to give promissory notes for 

 an unacclimated horse of comparatively little value 

 for a year, and which may prove to be vicious or 

 unsound, rather than to "bother with a colt." But 

 I have a great interest in, and really affection 

 for this man, who had no opportunity in youth to 

 acquire even a smattering of the principles which 

 underlie his profession, who has worked so hard 

 and long, as boy and man, that he has become un- 

 responsive, soured and often egotistical. Under the 

 circumstances, it is difficult for him to receive and 

 adopt new methods which require additional knowl- 

 edge and foresight. He is often so cramped in means 

 that he hesitates to undertake anything which does 

 not give promise of quick returns, although the 

 undertaking may offer satisfactory rewards. These 

 are the men who set no orchards, drain no lands, 

 repair no buildings. They are to be pitied, not 

 blamed. It has seemed to me that this class of farm- 

 ers should find a friend and an adviser somewhere. 

 Such cases cannot be dismissed by simply saying, 

 "Why don't you do better?" Why not raise cows 

 that will bring fifty dollars each, instead of twenty- 

 five dollars? Why not raise horses at forty dollars 

 profit each, instead of raising wheat and oats at a 



