HftTR'r H.O 
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WS HP 
VOL. XLVII. NO. 1999. 
NEW YORK, MAY 19, 1888, 
PRICE FIVE CENTS. 
$2.00 PER YEAR. 
[Entered according to Act of Congress, In the year 1888, by the Rural New-Yorker In the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.] 
£px$mum. 
OUR ANIMAL PORTRAITS. 
PERCIIERON STALLION, RIGOLO, 7915 (8354). 
At Fig. 139 is shown the Percheron stallion, 
Rigolo, 7915 (S354), the property of Messrs. 
Savage & Farnum, of Detroit, Mich. He is 
very dark, with full points, and a small star 
on the forehead. He is 15.3 hands high, and 
weighs 1,600 pounds. He was foaled on March 
14, 1886, and imported in 1887; bred by M. 
Albert Decrept, of La Varenne, commune of 
St. Bomert, canton or Authon, department of 
Eure-et-Loir; got by Producteur, 4280 (68), be¬ 
longing to M. Fardouet, Jr.; dam Bijou (319), 
belonging to M. Decrept, by Brilliant, 1899 
(756), and out of Bijou. 
Producteur, 3280 (68), by Madeira, 1546 (770), 
and out of Gentille (4062), by Porthos; Madei¬ 
ra, 1546 (770), by Vidocq, 483 (732), aud out of 
Jeanne by Favori I (711); Favori I (711) by 
Vieux-Chaslin (713) and out of L’Amie by 
Vieux-Pierre (894), he by Coco (712); Vidocq, 
483 (732), by Coco II (714), and out of a daugh¬ 
ter of Cheri, he by Rustique; Coco II (714) by 
Vieux-Chaslin (713) aud out of La Grise by 
Vieux-Pierre (883); Vieux-Chaslin (713) by 
Coco (712), and out of Poule by Sandi; Coco 
(712) by Mignon (715) and out of Pauline by 
Vieux-Coco, belonging to M. Poilpre; Mignon 
(715) by Jeau-le- 
Bianc (739); Brilliant 
1899 (756) by Coco II 
(714), etc., aud out of 
Rosette by Mina, be¬ 
longing to the French 
Government. 
-- 
FARM HORSES- 
RAISING.COLTS. 
C. S. RICE. 
Increased attention 
to horse-breeding ; 
as a rule i farmers 
can raise horses 
cheaper than they 
can buy them ; the 
kind to breed 
from ; sound pa¬ 
rents beget sound 
offspring ; raising 
colts cheaply ; cost 
of raising a colt; 
the best weight for 
a farm horse ; the 
most desirable 
strain ; the Per- 
cherons ; what 
farmers say ; the 
Cleveland Bays. 
For many years 
this country was de¬ 
pendent on St. Law¬ 
rence County and 
Canada for a large 
portion of the dairy 
cows and farm horses 
needed to keep up the 
requisite number. 
Little attention was 
given by the major¬ 
ity of farmers to the 
breeding of their 
own stock, and the 
result was inferior 
animals and a loss of 
many thousands of 
dollars to the coun¬ 
ty. In the last 10 or 
15 years these impor¬ 
tations have gradu¬ 
ally decreased, and 
at the present time most of the cows and horses 
are home-bred. The show of stock at our fairs 
is a creditable one, but there is still need of 
improvement. The more progressive farmers 
are at last awake to their own interests, and 
the near future is full of promise. 
Whether it will be profitable to engage in 
breeding horses depends somewhat on the size 
of the farm and the amount of team labor de¬ 
manded by the method of cultivation pursued, 
If the breeding mare cannot be used to advan¬ 
tage in farm labor, and all, or nearly all, of 
the cost of her keeping must be charged to the 
colt, then horses ready for business should be 
purchased. On many farms two horses can 
do the work, but it would be inconvenient and 
unprofitable if one of them was used for breed¬ 
ing purposes. With a larger farm tilled en¬ 
tirely by hired help at full wages, unincum¬ 
bered teams may bo the most economical. As 
a rule, however, the farmer can raise all the 
horses needed cheaper than he can buy them 
at present prices. Cases like those above men¬ 
tioned are only exceptions. A dark bay or 
chestnut mare, 15 hands high, sound and per¬ 
fect in limbs and feet, of good form and good 
constitution, and that will weigh 1,100 pounds, 
will prove of great profit when used both for 
farm labor and breeding. No one consulting 
his own interest will use an unsound, inferior, 
or very old mare, or one with any known hered¬ 
itary weakness. Such breeding results in 
loss to those who engage in it, and at the same 
time fills the country with unsightly and un¬ 
profitable animals. Good qualities are in¬ 
herited in the farm horse just as surely as 
speed is hereditary in the trotting stock, and 
the point of greatest importance in breeding 
is to secure as nearly perfect parentage as 
possible both in dam and sire. In the absence 
of accident, and of contagious or infectious 
diseases, colts and horses, the offsprings of 
sires and dams, alike perfect in form, sound 
and capable of enduring hardship will need 
no medicine, and afford no business for the 
veterinarian. The saying that “an ounce of 
prevention is worth more than a pound of 
cure,” will apply with force in this case. Many 
horses within my own knowledge have passed 
from youth to old age without medicine and 
with no idle days from sickness. With correct 
breeding and judicious management the num¬ 
ber of such horses would be greatly increased. 
Any farmer can avail himself of the laws of 
nature in these things if he chooses; bub the 
multitude will continue to transgress such 
laws by using worthless mares for breeding, 
and that to their own pecuniary loss. In my 
opinion much harm is done by the indiscrimi¬ 
nate use of so called remedies among horses 
and cattle. I do not undervalue the services 
of the educated and competent veterinarian, 
but would rather risk my stock without medi¬ 
cine or medical advice than in the hands of the 
typical country horse doctor. 
Colts may be cheaply raised and sold for a 
moderate price and money made in the busi¬ 
ness. An acquaintance of mine who is cer¬ 
tainly a good farm manager and of great ex¬ 
perience, keeps them until they are three 
years old without grain, and in winter on the 
refuse of the cattle mauger. Such a colt can 
be pastured for 86 the season, and at three 
years of age will not have cost more than 850 
and will sell for 8100, thus securing a neb 
profit of $50. This is in one sense satisfactory, 
but a colt with better keeping could be sold 
for more money and at greater profit. The 
cost of raising a colt in Northern New York 
is usually as follows: 
Use of sire.$10 00 
Pasture first season. 3 00 
First winter, 1 ton hay, $10, and 
8 bushels oats, 50 cents. 14 00 
Pasture for two seasons . 12 00 
Second winter, IX ton hay, 15 
bushels grain. 22 50 
Third winter the same. 22 50 
PERCHERON 
STALLION, RIGOLO 7915. From Life 
Total cost at three years old... $84 00 
A good colt, weighing 400 pounds at this 
age, will sell, for ordinary farm purposes, for 
8150 without breaking to harness, and give a 
net profit of 866.00 to the breeder. A well 
inclosed box stall, 16 feet each way, with a 
door opening into a yard nob used for other 
stock, will be suitable for winter-quarters. 
Plenty of straw should be used for bedding, 
and the manure should be removed occasion¬ 
ally. The manure, if well saved, will pay for 
all the care needed. 
A large number of 
our leading farmers 
have recently given 
me their views as to 
the~most desirable 
weight for the farm 
horse, and nearly all 
agree on 1,100 pounds 
as best for all uses. 
hi;my judgment, 100 
pounds added would 
be an improvement. 
Rather than increase 
the weight of the 
farm team beyond 
2,400 pounds, I would 
use a third horse if 
occasion required. 
The hardest team 
labor done on my 
farm is in the use of 
the hay-loader, the 
manure -spreader, 
and the weighted 
wheel harrow in pre- 
p ar ing potato 
ground; but a good 
2,400 team has suc¬ 
cessfully operated 
these machines for 
years without harm 
to themselves. 
As to which is the 
most desirable strain, 
great diversity of 
opinion exists. Per¬ 
haps the Hambleton- 
ians are as well 
established and as 
popular as any, but 
many farmers are 
looking to the recent¬ 
ly introduced Per- 
cherons as promising 
the best results in im¬ 
proving the lighter 
stock of the country. 
Although the use of 
these heavy sires on 
light mares is con¬ 
trary to sound and 
well established prin¬ 
ciples of good breed¬ 
ing, nevertheless, 
Fig. 
139. 
