PREFACE 



AT the close of 1904 Hon. James Wilson, Secretary 

 of Agriculture, reported that the value of farm 

 products in the United States for that year was 

 $4,900,000,000 nearly double the gross earnings of 

 the railroads added to the value of the production 

 of all the mines of the country for the same period. 

 This official statement opened the eyes of feverish 

 municipalities to the importance of agricultural life. 

 The value of horses owned by farmers is placed at 

 $1,150,000,000. In 1905 horses increased in num- 

 ber to 17,000,000, and in value to $1,200,000,000. 

 The type of the farm horse has been elevated by the 

 dissemination of blood, the virtue of which was 

 proved by the sharpest of physical tests. For genera- 

 tions the progressive farmer has striven to excel in 

 the creation of an animal combining activity with 

 strength, and his trial ground has been the road and 

 oval at the County or District Fair. He has labored 

 unceasingly to eliminate the running gait, and to 

 establish the trotting gait. The harness horse, not 

 the saddle horse, has been his hope and pride. It is 

 only in the large city, where speculation, mildly speak- 

 ing, borders on the hysterical, that the running horse 

 is a popular favorite. The farmers, who dominate 

 the national life, gather at the tracks of smaller 



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