204 The Hokse Industry in New York State 



good horses tend to keep the boy on the farm 

 Eight here it may he stated that horse hreediiiii; has an intimate 

 connection with another subject much discussed at present in the 

 agricultural press — that of keeping the hovs contented on the 

 farm. No other way of accomplishing this has been so pro- 

 ductive of the desired results as by getting the boys interested 

 in breeding good stock ; and the fact that nine out of ten boys on 

 the farm take pride in driving a good horse makes horse breed- 

 ing the ideal branch of live stock production to attract their 

 attention and to add to their contentment, at a time in their lives 

 when, unless life on the farai is relieved of some of its monotony, 

 discontent creeps in and they drift away from the farm in the 

 mistaken belief that other lines of work offer better opportunities. 



NECESSARY i:srPROVE:MP.NTS 



The greatest immediate need to insure the continued success 

 of the horse department of the State Fair is the erection of 

 modern barns to stable the horses exhibited. Those which have 

 been used during the past several years are unsanitary, and so 

 poorly arranged that it is with the utmost difficulty that the 

 patrons of the fair can see the horses when they are in the stable, 

 with any degree of satisfaction. Modern, sanitary and well- 

 lighted barns would not only add much to the pleasure of the 

 persons who attend the fair to sea the horses with the idea of 

 learning something, but it would also add immensely to the value 

 of the exliibits, and thus attract a constantly growing list of ex- 

 hibitors. Such barns^ too, would of themselves be a valuable edu- 

 cational feature to farmers in a direction which is demanding the 

 attention of everyone who is giving any study -to farming uplift. 



Another most desirable addition to the exhibition equipment 

 would be a covered show ring, if it were no more than a pavilion. 

 Under present conditions the exhibitors and judges have to work 

 in the direct rays of the hot sun when the weather is good; and, 

 if stormy, the exhibition must be abandoned altogether. 



The vast opportunities which present themselves to the farmers 

 of this state in the hors'e breeding field are too important to 

 J3ennit this branch of breeding to be neglected by our State Fair, 



