6 
THE PERC HERON REVIEW 
pleasure-riding: witli liis family, but against that will come the 
pay and satisfaction which will result in more agreeable confer- 
ences with his banker. 
There was a tiuie when many good farmers claimed that a 
two-row cultivator was not the thing, but such ideas are out 
of date in 1922. The implements have been pertci-t cd so that 
anyone who is careful can plow two rows of corn .it the same 
time and do it just as well as one. Ag:iiii, 1lic \v:iy lias In-cn 
provided whereby one man can nccomplisli as iiiiuli as two with 
the old method.' The two-row eiiltivatov has the additional ad- 
vantage of enabling the farmer to stir his i-ovii ofteiier, and we 
all know that freiiuently, in sight of a heavy rain, after our 
corn has been plowed for the last time, we would give anything 
to plow it again so that the air might get in around the roots. 
However, with only one plow available and most of the help 
required in the harvest tield, it is inipossilde to ])low any con- 
siderable number of acres before the corn gets too big. In 
my own experience, I have seen times when the iiii-rease in yield 
wiiieh tlie corn should have made, would have |i\nrliased se\eral 
pairs of two-row cultivators. Here in the corn lielt states this 
problem of corn plowing and harvesting at the same time is a 
serious one and larger machinery and l)igger and better horses 
is the only solution of the ditiiculty. 
Every farmer should bear in mind tliat although horses are 
comp.-iratively cheap, they are no cheaper than any other kind 
of fa Mil animals and since the cost of raising a colt is almost 
a lu'gligible amount, it behooves every one on the laml to begin 
raising a few draft colts. The time is at hand when these old 
farm horses which have been used for the past ten years should 
be replaced by young ones. It does little good to say that we 
appreciate the advisability of using larger team units if we do 
not at the same time indicate our interest by having every horse 
in that team able to do his full sliare of tin' day's work. It can 
be truthfully said that a team is only as strong as its weakest 
horse. If only one horse is untit by being too old, too weak or 
affected in a way that lessens his working power, the whole team, 
man and all, must stand at the end and rest. Therefore, that 
liorse may be cheap in value but is a very ex]}ensive one to work 
in the busy season -when teams should be kept moving every i)os- 
sible minute of the day. 
Looking ahead there must, of course, be a greater use made 
of heavy horse-power on the farm and at the same time a vast 
improvement in the quality of those draft horses if the greatest 
profits are to be obtained. The money made will not be de- 
pendent upon the number of horses, but entirely upon the kind. 
There are many farmers today who have horse "Boarders'" so 
to speak, the kind that eat but do very little work because of 
some defect or other. We must breed and keep good "hot 
weatlier'' drafters so that we will only need to feed tliose that 
are ready for the harness every day. <|)uali(y must come first 
and then size, and naturally, the more of the latter tlie better, 
as long as the quality and gi'Meral makeup of the animals are 
in the right proportions. I'oor action, found in the horse that 
stund^les along or wings badly, is one of the worst drawbacks 
to an efficient farm horse. From the standpoint of making money, 
no farmer can afford to keep a horse that is not always ready 
for the collar, nor can he afford to keep a surplus of horses in 
the pasture to take the place of those that get "knocked out" 
at work. If teams of the right kind are properly worked and 
cared for, they will do their full sliare in the harness without any 
vacation days. 
It should be remembered that no one living now is likely to see 
the day when we will have an oversupply of Percherons. It is true 
that 74.9 per cent of all pure bred draft horses in the United States 
are Percherons, according to the last census report, and that the 
total number of pure bred draft horses is only 94,188. Bv breeds, 
there were 70,613 Percherons, 10,838 Belgians, 5,580 Shires, 4,221 
Clydesdales and 2,938 French Draft. In fact, 58.5 per cent of all 
pure bred horses owned on farms on January 1, 1920, were Per- 
cherons. There is only one pure Ijred draft horse to every 68 
farms and only one Perclieron to every 91 farms. Even in Iowa, 
one of the leading draft horse states, where Percherons are evenly 
distributed all over the state, there is only one pure bred Percheron 
to every 22 farms. In this census rejiort it was interesting to 
note that Illinois was first in nuiiilier of Percherons owned, Iowa 
second, Kansas third, Ohio fourth. North Dakota fifth, Nebraska 
sixth, South Dakota seventh, Minnesota eighth, Indiana ninth and 
Missouri tenth. 
It should further be noted that -according to the reports of the 
different stallion registration boards, the average ;ige of draft 
stallions standing for |iul)lic service is about in years. We are 
going to need a new suiq)ly of good young draft stallions soon 
and the real ones are hard to find. The ojjportunity of filling this 
demand will naturally be met very largely by Percheron breeders 
but it is certain there will not be enough colts of the right sort 
to go around. The answer is very simple because the majority of 
lireeders do not take the care of their colts which they should. 
The small, unsound rercheron stallion that is grow'n from wean- 
ing time in a dry lot and box stall is worse than none at all. One 
cannot blame farmers for refusing to breed to such a horse. It 
would have been far more yirofitable to the nmn who raised him, 
had such a horse been castrated as a yearling. The good, big, 
sound stallions had all the patronage they could handle in the 
s])ring of 1921 which is exactly as it should be. The sooner horse 
breeders realize that it takes more than a ])edigree to make a stal- 
lion fit to sire acceptalile faini horses, the better off such men will 
be financially. The trouble is not with the stallion business and 
the lack of interest among fai mers, but witli tlie lack of knowledge 
on tlie part of many so calle(l horsemen of what constitutes a real 
draft sire. Most fanners want to breed their mares but there 
are very few comninnities where a real good draft stallion is 
available. 
It is interesting to note the practical reasons given by some 
for their use of Percherons in preference to some other breed. 
1 talked recently with E. S. Humphrey, who represents a firm 
o\\ niiig much tiinlier land in the mountainous section of Vermont. 
He says they use aii|iroximately 1,000 draft horses and over 90 
])er cent of them show a [iredominanee of Percheron blood. Be- 
ing es])ccially anxious to know why they favored the Percheron I 
questioned him and he answered in this manner: "It is impos- 
sible for us to use a shallow heeled, shelly footed horse or one with 
a small foot inasmuch as we are located in a mountainous country. 
It is necessary that we have a horse with a big foot and the qual- 
ity of hoof which will hold a shoe. For this reason, and the fact 
that the Pi-rcliermi has a good disposition, he sur]iasses all other 
lireeds. We ]iile logs on sleds to a height of 15 feet and as we 
go down the mountain siile the average horse will kick badly if 
the load runs u]i on his heels, but tlie Percheron has sufficient in- 
stinct 1(1 step out of the way of the sled. The loads are extra 
hea\y and thi' horses get very warm and for that reason we have 
some trouble with sickness, but have fewer doctor bills with the 
horses showing Percheron blood than any other draft breeil. ' ' 
Anyone who has ever paid any attention to this matter of 
disposition among draft horses will recall that he has seen very 
few stallions ;if work cxcejit Percherons. Because of their hardi- 
ness they tak<' good care of t lieinselx'es in the harness and are very 
little trouble to work. In fact, if one will work a young draft 
stallion judiciously, he will grow liigger and be a lot surer than if 
kept in iilleiiess with nothing to do but stand around and eat 
three niea Is per day. 
Fndoul iteil ly the strongi'st evidence that one can cite of the 
])opularity of rercheron characteristics among American farmers, 
is the fact that two (uil of every three pure bred draft stallions 
standing for puljlic service are Percherons. 
Because the right kind of Percherons are especially good hot 
weather horses, the breed is increasing very rapidly in popularity 
in the South. The quality sort is most suitable lielow the Mason 
& Dixon line. What every farmer wants is a horse ready for the 
collar every day and so many drafters are sad disa))pointments in 
this respect because they are large slab sided, coarse jointed, light 
waisted, (duiiisy footed horses. The ]ioi)ular type I'ercheron today 
.■niiong our best breeders is the most valuable sort of a farm horse, 
being of moderate size with quality, good action and properly set 
legs. 
When we are replanning our horse program, providing for 
more economical methods, it will be well to consider that the years 
just ahead of us should be spent in diversified farming. This is 
a t ime when it will pay to raise good livestock. Better put some 
of the land back into grass that ^vas plowed up when corn sold for 
.+2.00 ]ier bushel and let it rest. The most opportune time the 
farmer has seen in recent yi'ars for stocking his land with good 
animals is at hand because iiri<-es on everything are at the bottom. 
Good cattle, hogs, sheep and draft horses will turn the now un- 
salable products of the farm, such as pasture, hay, straw and 
corn fodder, into profit if rightly handled. In fact, this is the 
only way to sell these feeds and get anything for them. Then too, 
there is no grain a farmer raises that will make any profit at 
jiresent values. Therefore, the one great chance that lies before 
the American farmer today is to use his brains in the management 
of good breeding animals for the increase cannot help but make 
some money. 
There is abundant hope for every man on the land who will 
take these few homely suggestions and put them into practice. 
It must, however, be a thrift program from now on if farming is 
to endure. It means good draft horses and no other kind for the 
farm. There must be brood mares for they help to jiroduce their 
own fuel, do their ow'u rejiair work and besides reproduce their 
own kind. The brood sow, milk cow, and the ewe should not be 
overlooked if a fanner wishes to pay off his debts most rapidly. 
In fact, we are in the midst of a new era in farming that will 
require clear thinking and good business judgment, properly sea- 
soned with optimism, in order that we may scatter these financial 
(douds now hanging over American agriculture. 
