1 891 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
693 
Business. 
“TALKING HORSE” WITH A PERCH- 
ERON BREEDER. 
John W. Akin’s Views on Practical Matters. 
Cooperative buying and selling; exercising mares; 
feed for pregnant animals; “ doq flour;" caring for 
the colt; no need of unshapely breeding mares; plenty 
of small fruit; a good farm; the “ dark horse ” wins 
the customer; the cross hired man must go ! 
I recently visited the stock farm of John W. Akin of 
Scipio, N. Y. Having arrived a little late in the evening 
and meeting Mr. Akin by accident, I rode with him to his 
place three or four miles out. Not being able to see much 
of the country at that late hour, we were able to “talk 
horse” quite freely. 
Clubs for Buying and Selling Horses. 
“ What do you think of the cooperative plan of buying 
hort es, which has been recently discussed in The Rural?” 
I asked. 
“It has worked well where I have seen it tried,” replied 
Mr. Akin. “It saves money In the use of the horse, and 
is a paying investment; but the increased value of the 
colts is of most importance. Another important idea that 
was overlooked by those who discussed the cooperative 
plan in The Rural, is this: A horse purchased in this 
way is liable to remain longer in the neighborhood. As a 
result, a car-load of horses of about the same size and build 
soon grow up, and buyers are easily induced to go where 
they can get a car-load of desirable horses. Why, I could 
get a buyer up here any time with 10 days’ notice if I 
could assure him of one or two car loads of desirable draft 
horses of about the same size and build in the neighbor¬ 
hood. But buyers can’t afford to come for an occasional 
horse.” 
“ Do you raise many colts ?” 
“ Oh yes, that’s our business ” 
“Can you raise as good horses in this country as those 
imported from Europe ?” 
“ Yes, I can. But that depends entirely upon the stock 
and the breeder. You can’t breed every kind of a horse to 
any kind of a mare, and expect the best quality of colts. 
We sometimes find a mare with a special weakness. The 
stock horse may not remedy this weakness. Then we 
select a horse that is known to remedy it; or is likely to 
do so.” 
Care of Breeding Mares. 
“ What is your idea about exercising a mare when in 
foal?” 
“I think she should either be exercised or allowed to 
run out in the yard. We work the mares whenever we 
need them. We would rather that they should work than 
not if in the hands of a man with good judgment.” 
“ How close to the time of foaling would you work 
them ?” 
“We work them right up to within half a day of the 
time of foaling. It is better to do that than to box them 
up in a stall for three or four days. Of course, we use 
j tdgment in the matter. They are not worked hard and 
are not put into soft, difficult places.” 
Feeding the Mare; “Dog Flour.” 
“ Tell us what special feed you give mares during the 
later stages of gestation.” 
“No specal feed whatsoever. We don’t feed any of 
them corn, and, of course, would not at this time, if we 
did do so at other times. For the last year we have been 
getting dog flour and mixing it with bran in proportion of 
one part of flour to four parts of bran. Not only is it the 
cheapest, but the best feed that we have been able to get.” 
“ Where do you get your dog flour ? ” 
“ Well,” said Mr. Akin, “ my first lot I got by accident. 
One dealer had a car-load on hand and didn’t know what 
to do with it. He was about to ship it back, but sent me 
word to come and see it. I bought it at a low price, and 
he has supplied me ever since. I fed it lightly at first, 
and kept increasing the quantity gradually, but found 
that the proportion of one to four is all the animals will 
stand.” 
Care of the Mother and Colt. 
“ But the one thing,” resumed Mr. Akin, “ that farm¬ 
ers generally know least about, and the thing, too, that 
causes most loss, is the care of the mother and colt at the 
time of foaling. The mare should be watched for signs of 
approaching delivery, as well as by the record, and some 
one should be on hand te see that everything is all right, 
and to render help if necessary. But she should not be 
disturbed. She should be allowed to lie still, and no at¬ 
tempt should be made to separate the mother and colt. 
By taking hold of the natal cord you will find that it beats 
like an artery. It should not be disturbed. After a little 
the beating ceases, however, and then it may be tied and 
cut. If torn off too close to the body the colt will bleed 
to death, as if an artery were cut.” 
“ Here is another point often overlooked: the mare has 
been fed on dry feed, and loses her milk before foaling. 
The colt comes all right, feeds well, and does well for a 
few days; but it weakens and dies. The trouble has been 
that the first milk which contained the natural elements 
to keep the colt’s bowels in order was lost, and it died from 
the results of constipation. In such cases, we first milk 
the mare and put a little castor oil in the milk before giving 
it to the colt. This relieves it. Then it is quite as import¬ 
ant to keep the colt warm. If allowed to get cold and 
chilled through, the organs weaken and the colt dies. We 
put a coal stove in the stable in cold weather and keep 
the colts warm. Then, again, some colts do not nurse ; 
they get no nourishment; the organs do not get to work, 
and the colt dies.” 
“ You feed them in this case ?” 
“ Certainly,” he replied. “ There can be no question as 
to how much food a colt has when you feed it. Of course, 
the rule is that the colt will get up and nurse, but those 
that do not do so are the animals that must be looked 
after. In changing from the haphazard way of going to 
see the mare and colt once or twice during the night, to 
the better plan of keeping a man with them all night, and 
seeing that they have proper care, we have demonstrated 
that the loss of colts is due mainly to carelessness. There 
is no luck about it.” 
“ Do you feed the mares while grazing ?” 
“ Yes, I think it is a good idea to feed them a little, as 
the colts get in the way of eating a little themselves and 
then they can be kept growing right along after weaning.” 
Must Breeding Mares Remain Unshapely? 
“ Well, Mr. Akin,” I put in, “ some farmers object to 
breeding their mares because they say it spoils the shape 
of the animal. Has this been your experience?” 
“ No; it has not,” he promptly answered. “ The trouble 
is right here. After foaling, of course, the mares are 
empty, and the men go to work and fill up the space with 
food. Then, of course, the animals become “ Douchy.” 
The tendency among them is to eat and drink too much. 
We give them bran mash, not more than one pailful of 
lukewarm water, and no more hay than we can stuff into 
a half bushel measure. We were obliged to insist that the 
men should measure the hay because they Invariably gave 
too much. This keeps down their dimensions, and the or¬ 
gans soon recover their natural shape and size.” 
The Stock Support a Good Farm. 
Mr. Akin is located on the water shed lying between 
Owasco and Cayuga Lakes. On one point of the farm a 
spring bubbles up and flows to the Owasco while within 
10 rods from it the water takes a western course and finally 
reaches the Cayuga. The farm contains 300 acres. The 
surface is smooth and the soil a fine rich loam. Little 
grain is raised except oats, bub the yearly crop of hay is 
about 500 tons. The road leading both ways from the 
house, is lined with hard maple trees, affording a fine 
shade, and adding immensely to the fine appearance of the 
place. 
“I see you have some small fruit3,” I said. “Do you 
market any up here ?” 
“No,” said Mr. Akin “we don’t market any. When I 
took the place we had some fruits; but I concluded that 
we would have enough, so that all could have what they 
wanted and we have some left.” 
I concluded that he had kept his resolution. Apples, 
grapes and small fruits of every description were in view 
in great abundance. In fact the whole place bore an air of 
neatness and thrift that impressed one at every turn. The 
windmill on the barn forced water to the stables and fields 
where needed. The stables were clean, the doors swung 
smoothly on their hinges, the windows were barred with 
iron, and the stables were lined with hard wood. Through¬ 
out the fields the same careful management was evidently 
in control. Plain wire fences bound large pasture fields, 
and where barbed wire was used at all, ridges were thrown 
up under the fences to keep the horses and colts from paw¬ 
ing under the wires, and getting their fore legs caught, 
which, Mr. Akin says, is the greatest cause of accident. 
He likes the woven wire fence best, however, and as he is 
now able to get It at fair prices, he will use it exclusively 
for the future. 
I noticed a style of gate of his invention that seemed 
worthy of mention. It was simply a square frame of inch 
hollow iron, screwed into right angle elbows at the four 
corners, and covered with McMullen woven wire. It was 
braced diagonally across, but this, I thought, unnecessary 
as it seemed very stiff. It is certainly very light, and not 
expensive. I liked it very much. 
Dark Horses and Kind Hired Men. - 
We went from stall to stall, and from stable to stable, 
and thence to the pastures, and saw nothing but the fin¬ 
est animals—Percherons and French Coachers. 
“ I see you run mostly to dark colors,” I said. “ Yes,” 
replied Mr. Akin, “ when I went to Europe this year, my 
son said I should buy all black horses. Blacks, bays and 
dark grays sell well. Light bays do not. If a buyer wants 
a gray, he will take a black; but if he wants a black, he 
can’t be induced to take a gray. The original color in 
France was white, but the Americans demanded dark 
colors, and the French, who always ad pt themselves to 
circumstances, began to breed to suit the American trade. 
They have also bred a heavier horse than the original 
type, the present weights ranging from 1,600 to 2,000 
pounds.” 
Mr. Akin’s horses are what may be termed the Ameri¬ 
can type of Percherons and French Coach stock. They 
have evidently been selected and bred for fine form and 
action. In this they differ, too, from the type in the West, 
where coarser form and clumsy action are more in de¬ 
mand. Mr. Akin has but recently returned from France 
with an importation, and he had the good fortune to be 
the first American in the district in which he made his 
purchases. Accordingly he came back with au exception¬ 
ally nice lot of animals bought at prices that were about 
right. He brought home two joung black Coachers that 
won prizes at Marseilles this year, and they certainly seem 
to deserve the honor. Their forms are just about perfect, 
and the knee action is everything that could be asked for 
in style movement. 
Without dwelling too much on this type, I must confess 
that I am partial to French Coachers, both on account of 
sentiment and of business. They are of good size, gener¬ 
ally fine style, docile disposition and good roadsters. And 
who doesn’t like a fine, large, easy-moviDg road horse ? 
As a matter of business one is always safe in breeding 
them. There are possibilities of getting something very 
valuable, and should one fail in this, he is sure of a good 
all-round serviceable animal that can be used before the 
carriage or the plow. 
Among the Percherons, Ton Galore, a black seven-year- 
old, stands at the head. He is a black fellow of the orig¬ 
inal Percheron type, and shows up well in acting. A dark 
gray six year-old of about 1,700 pounds’ weight shows the 
possibility of American breeding. He compares well even 
with the fine forms of the foreign stock. 
Among the French brood mares I saw some very fine 
animals. In fact, some of the young ones were as promis¬ 
ing as anything that I have ever seen. One thing I noticed 
particularly—whether in the stalls or in the pastures, the 
animals, old and young, were gentle even to familiarity. 
I mentioned the fact to Mr. Akin. 
“ Oh, yes,” he replied, “ I have no use for a man or boy 
who can’t be kind to the horses. When the man begins to 
abuse the animals, I don’t need to be told about it, I can 
see it in the animal. The man is kindly cautioned once, 
and the second time he offends, we have no further use for 
him. He goes.” 
Mr. Akin was preparing to take his stock to the El¬ 
mira Fair when I left him, and a few days later, I saw his 
exhibit of 34 head on the fair grounds. They had just been 
judged, and I was not surprised to find that he had secured 
a prize on every thing he had entered in the French Coach 
line, having eight firsts and four seconds. With his Per¬ 
cherons he was scarcely less successful, having secured 11 
out of 12 prizes. j. j. d. 
TWO WAYS OF HANDLING POTATOES. 
Bushel Bags. —In harvesting my potatoes I use bushel 
bags, as I use the Bowker fertilizers, and think they are 
preferable to larger bags. They hold one bushel and give 
room to get i old of the bag. We never tie them, but fill 
the wagon box full and then lay two tiers together on top 
so they prevent leaking out. We usually draw 65 bushels 
at a load to the car, and one man with a team draws six 
loads per day. I use the Hoover digger and can dig and 
deliver the potatoes in the cars for three cents per bushel. 
I always ship my potatoes from the field. E. B. TRUE. 
Orleans County, Yt. 
A Colorado Way. —For the last 10 years I have han¬ 
dled potatoes very nearly as described by Mr. Rlttenhouse. 
I raise from 75 to 85 acres each year. For picking I 
find it pays to use buckets made of galvanized iron with 
wire bottoms, made much in the shape of candy buckets. 
They hold more, are more handy to empty into the sacks, 
and outlast a dozen baskets. I put on 65 to 75 half sacks, 
drive to the potato cellar and empty the sacks on to a 
wire screen which separates the merchantable tubers from 
dirt and very small kinds, carrying the rest into the cellar. 
Greeley, Colo. _ C. F. M. 
BUSINESS BITS. 
Swimmer’s Web Hand —Some genius has invented the 
glove or mitten shown at Fig. 249. This is to be used by 
A Rubber Web-Hand. Fig. 249. 
swimmers, that they may enter the water on terms of 
equality with a duck or a Newfoundland dog, it being 
generally conceded that these animals owe their swimming 
superiority to the web-foot and web-hand. When a man 
undertakes to swim, too much of the water “ slips through 
his fingers.” This flat rubber glove is supposed to stop 
this and give him more “ purchase” in his stroke against 
the water. 
Breed’s Weeder as a Rake.— Will Breed’s weeder 
draw small stones and sods on top of young plants? Tne 
soil is full of stones, here and I think it would cover small 
plants so that it would be useless. D. c. s. 
R. N.-Y.—This is one objection to the use of the 
weedtr. It acts like a rake unless it is raised from the 
ground every few feet, and if this is done the soil is not 
properly worked. The trouble is not so much in covering 
the plants with stones as in leaving the stones in rows or 
heap3. The cleaner the soil the better work will Breed’s 
weeder do. 
The Kemp & Burpee Manufacturing Company of Syra¬ 
cuse, N. Y., must be doing a good business with their 
Kemp manure spreader. They have j ust moved into a new 
and commodious factory, where their facilities will be 
doubled for turning out spreaders—another assurance of 
ultimate success when merit is combined with perserver- 
ance, enterprise and push. 
Raising Cream by Air Pressure.— This question is 
often asked: “ Why don’t we hear more about raising 
cream by air-pump pressure ? ” The reason is that there 
is little more to say except to tell where the appliance can 
be bought. This we cannot do, as it has not yet been 
offered for sale. Whether the owners are satisfied with 
the device, or whether they are trying to improve it, we 
cannot say. 
