THEPERCHERON REVIEW 35 
day. When it is warm we turn them on pasture 
at night. Weaning takes place at six or seven 
months. The mare is re-bred after the ninth 
day or so. I find that she is more Uable to con- 
ceive about the eleventh day after foaling. It is 
not advisable to take the mare a considerable dis- 
tance to the stallion when she has a very young foal. 
Stallioners here will generally oblige their patrons 
by bringing their horses to the farm in such cases. 
"Our methods are simple enough and we have no 
elaborate stables. Our colts stay out in the pasture 
winter and summer until they are approved for 
service or sold for America. Oats and hay are hauled 
out to them in the winter, and they have all the bright 
wheat straw they need to pick at. Closed wooden 
sheds are built in the pastures, where abundant straw 
bedding is furnished, and the door is left wide open 
for the animals to enter at will. Distemper is the 
only complaint that bothers us. The only thing we 
do to bring relief is to shut the animals up tightly 
in the stable and make a fumigation of tar so the 
horses will breathe the fumes." 
Feeding Draft Colts 
The Department of Animal Husbandry of the 
Kansas State Agricultural College has conducted an 
experiment in colt feeding with the following objects: 
1. To determine whether as good draft colts may 
be grown and developed without oats as with them. 
2. To study the growth and development of 
draft colts. 
3. To determine whether it pays to feed well the 
growing colt. 
A synopsis of this experiment follows: Two lots 
of colts were used, each consisting of five grades and 
five purebreds. Lot one was fed a grain ration of 
oats and lot two a grain ration of an equal amount 
by weight of a combination of corn 70 per cent, 
bran 25 per cent, and linseed oil meal 5 per cent. 
Both lots received equal amounts of roughage, con- 
sisting of alfalfa hay, straw and corn stover (fod- 
der without the ears). The average age of the colts 
was eight and one-half months when the experi- 
ment was started. To secure maximum growth and 
good condition without overloading with fat was 
the aim. The colts had the run of a twenty acre 
pasture both summer and winter. The average 
weight of the twenty colts at the beginning of the 
experiment was approximately 850 pounds. The 
average gain per head for the first year was a little 
over 475 pounds. The lot that was fed corn, bran and 
linseed oil meal made slightly greater gains during the 
first twelve months. At that time the purebred stal- 
lion colts and two fillies were removed from the ex- 
periment. In view of the fact that there were so few 
purebreds remaining they were dropped out of con- 
sideration in making up the results of the second year. 
At the end of two years from the beginning of the 
experiment the grade colts weighed approximately 
1530 pounds each, having made a gain of about 715 
pounds per head in twenty-four months. During 
the second twelve months, as in the first period, the 
colts that were fed corn, bran and linseed oil meal 
made somewhat larger gains. This may have been 
due to the variety in the ration which stimulated 
the appetite. So far as this one test goes, it indi- 
cates that if a proper combination of other grains is 
provided in the ration, oats are not required to de- 
velop good colts. 
These grade colts came from farms where they 
received no grain previous to weaning. Their 
sires were registered purebred draft stallions 
averaging 1900 pounds in breeding condition. 
Their dams varied in weight from 1250 to 1600 
pounds, the average being 1380 pounds. It should 
be noted especially that the grade colts from these 
crosses averaged 1530 pounds at a little more than 
two and one-half years of age, while no effort 
had been made to fatten them. At thirty-two 
months of age these colts had cost $110 per head, 
including initial purchase price and subsequent 
expenses for feed and care. Two horsemen ex- 
perienced in market values, on January 4, 1915, 
appraised the colts at from $175 to $250 per head, 
the average for the lot being $200. 
One fact of interest in connection with this ex- 
periment is that colts developed in the same com- 
munity where these colts were raised, sired by the 
same stallions, and out of the same class of mares, 
weighed at least 300 pounds less and would not 
bring more than half the price of the colts grown in 
this experiment. No matter how well a draft colt 
is bred, he can never develop into a first class horse 
without plenty of feed in the early part of his life. 
This IS particularly important in growing drafters 
because they make approximately half of their 
mature weight during the first twelve months. Ton 
horses are never made from six to seven hundred 
pound yearlings. Ellis McFarland. 
Has Your Boy a Percheron Colt Like This? 
The Boy's Interest in Horses 
Boys handle a large number of the entries in local 
horse shows. They are always keen competitors. 
They are eager to learn the reasons for the placings. 
They are quick to observe the best methods of show- 
