248 Western Live-stock Management 



producers, are the farmers of the Wheat-Belt. In the 

 tending of the summer fallow, the plowing, the cultivating 

 and harvesting of wheat a great number of horses are 

 used. These horses, in order to be useful in pulling heavy 

 machinery, are largely draft horses of substantial char- 

 acter. The surplus horses from these regions are very 

 marketable, and are sold to a large extent in the East and 

 in the cities. Large numbers of the good draft sires have 

 been used in these sections in past years, and good stock 

 is produced, although the Wheat-Belt is often handi- 

 capped by the lack of a large amount of pasture. In 

 some sections this is overcome by using adjacent range, 

 or land which is not suitable for the production of wheat, 

 but generally speaking the wheat ranches must support 

 their horses largely on grain and hay. 



The irrigated valleys produce many good horses. In 

 these valleys the farmers do a large amount of farm work, 

 and therefore require draft horses for this purpose. 

 Usually adjacent to the irrigated valleys there are pasture 

 lands which are supplemented by cultivated feed and 

 irrigated pastures. The horses produced in these sec- 

 tions are large and growthy, and therefore good market- 

 able stock. 



The homestead farmers form another class who are 

 raising some horses. These men, as a rule, are raising a 

 poor class of horses, for ■ they usually lack the capital, 

 and also lack the land for the production ■ of any large 

 amount of feed, and therefore they have neither the feed 

 nor the opportunity to raise a large amount of high class 

 stock. Occasionally, however, a homesteader will be 

 found who is developing his land and raising some grain, 

 and these will more nearly correspond to the Wheat- 

 Belt producers. 



