Vol. LXII1, No. 2841, 
NEW YORK, JULY 9, 1904. 
81 PER YEAR 
ARGUMENTS FOR TOY HORSES. 
WHY KEEP A SHETEAND l'ONY ? 
Cost of Preparing for Market. 
The Shetland “Dick” pictured on this page is owned 
by J. S. Armstrong, of Dutchess Co., N. Y. Some 
years ago there were a number of breeders of Shet- 
lands all reporting a good business. When the bicycle 
became popular the demand for ponies fell off, and 
many breeders retired. Now there is a new demand for 
the little horses. Mr. Armstrong, when asked to com¬ 
pare the bicycle and the pony, says: 
“In comparing the bicycle with the pony, while hold¬ 
ing the bicycle in high estimation for business purposes 
and for those unable to keep or purchase a pony, for 
the training or proper development of a youngster I 
would consider them almost incomparable. My reasons 
for saying so are these: 
Grace of motion is nec¬ 
essary to the training of 
the child, and this is ob¬ 
tained by horseback exer¬ 
cise, as well as by the 
teaching of dancing, both 
of which impart ease of 
movement to the body 
that is maintained through 
life. The bicycle exer¬ 
cises the legs more than 
any part of the body, 
while the hands and arms 
are strained dn clasping 
the handle bars, the eyes, 
too, have a fixed expres¬ 
sion, constantly looking 
for a proper road in which 
to guide the wheels, while 
in riding the pony this is 
unnecessary. If the right 
method is observed in rid¬ 
ing the horse, the left 
hand is used for the reins, 
the right for the whip, the 
elbows kept close to the 
body, the head well 
poised, and with the ad¬ 
vantage of being able to 
look to the right or the 
left, and admire the scen¬ 
ery or objects of interest 
as one passes along. It is 
unnecessary for me to 
state that the legs, too, 
have a natural straight 
position, with the ball of 
the foot resting easily 
upon the stirrup, giving _ “A 1 
the rider the opportunity 
of rising in his seat at will, and as to exercise, every part 
of the body is brought into action. 
“As for the raising of ponies for profit, it occurred 
to me to try the experiment, believing as I do that good 
results in a pecuniary way may be obtained, provided 
the very best stock could be secured. To this end I 
have started in with a few ponies, the best obtainable, 
of striking colors, and without regard to price. So 
far I have succeeded, although finding such as I wish 
scarce and expensive. I fully believe a growing and 
increasing demand will in a short time occur. Ponies 
are a stock that can be made ready for market when 
two years old, and may be kept on rough pasturage 
land during the Summer, and with small amount of 
feed during the Winter, not being more expensive in 
keeping than would be three sheep to each pony. Con¬ 
sequently a herd of 20 brood mares would not exceed in 
cost that of 60 or, at the outside, 100 sheep, and would 
certainly be much more profitable, as the prices range 
now from $100 to $250, and difficult to find at that, of 
the right sort. Showing their great strength, I have a 
pony of 12^2 hands high that will carry at a canter 
two men who weigh 150 pounds each.” 
A KANSAS CLOVER CROP. 
HOW IT IS CUT.—In harvesting clover, we begin 
when the blossoms are about half dead. We allow 
the dew to escape from the clover, or nearly so, before 
beginning to mow—usually nine or ten o’clock. If our 
crop is heavy we mow until noon, and that portion 
we put in windrow just after the dew has effect on the 
leaves, or about four o’clock in the afternoon. If we 
rake in windrow before four in the afternoon, the leaves 
being dry before the stems are cured, they break off 
and shatter, and yet being cured they would be nearly 
OY HORSE.” TYPICAL SHETLAND PONY, DICK. 
ruined by the dew of the night if left in the swath. If 
the weather is propitious we mow again in the after¬ 
noon for the next day’s handling. What we mow in 
the afternoon will not dry sufficiently to suffer damage 
by the night dew. In the afternoon of the next day 
we secure the crop of the first mowing by placing it in 
the barn. The mowing of the next morning, added to 
the mowing of the afternoon of the day before, gives 
us a large amount of hay to take chances on, for the 
weather usually in June is very uncertain, but the hay 
is ready and we take the risk. We keep all hay that 
is partly cured in the windrow, if we have to leave it 
out over night. 
LOADING AND STORING.—We run two wagons, 
using a hay loader hooked on the rear. We go astride 
the windrow, and as soon as one or two men can handle 
the hay after it is elevated and dropped on the wagon 
the load is complete, occupying from six to 10 minutes. 
One man then drives the load to the barn, where a 
team is hitched to the fork, and with slings or double 
harpoon fork elevates and carries the hay to its place in 
the mow, requiring usually about 10 or 15 minutes’ time. 
We use slings largely; while they are somewhat incon¬ 
venient, having to be placed at intervals on the load, yet 
they remove the hay completely and unfold it in the 
mow just as it lay on the wagon. A small cord attached 
to the sling releases the load. Therefore we prefer the 
slings because of the ease of mowing the hay away, 
while the harpoon fork deposits a large bundle in the 
mow, which makes considerable work in distributing 
it properly. We have the Rochester hay carrier. It is 
so constructed that when the sling load is elevated 
sufficiently we stop the team. The carrier locks itself. 
The attendant pulls a rope which releases the carrier, 
allowing it to be conveyed back to its place in the 
mow, and avoiding the necessity of the load going to 
the top of the barn, as is 
the case with other car¬ 
riers. The Rochester has 
an automatic lock, and we 
trip at any elevation, so 
that when we get above 
the beams of the barn the 
load is carried back to its 
place. We have frequent¬ 
ly put in two loads per 
hour with two wagons and 
four men, hauling the hay 
a quarter of a mile. 
SECOND CROP.—The 
second crop is usually 
lighter than the first. If 
the season is a dry one we 
allow the second crop to 
stand until fully ripe, and 
cut it for seed. We hull 
it in an ordinary thrash¬ 
ing machine with extra 
teeth in the concave. The 
residue or chaff is most 
excellent feed for cattle 
or sheep if it has not been 
exposed too long to the 
weather. The seed crop 
usually yields from two to 
five bushels per acre. The 
seed sells at about $5 per 
bushel. If, however, the 
late season has been a wet 
one, the clover bloom has 
not been fertilized suffi¬ 
ciently to justify cutting 
for thrashing. If the soil 
in which we sow our 
clover is a moist one we 
Fig. 223. sow English Blue-grass 
' - 1 seed with it, which ma¬ 
tures at about the same time as the first crop of clover, 
and is an excellent feed for all kinds of stock. 
FEEDING CLOVER.—There is much objection 
to feeding clover hay to horses, as it is very difficult 
to secure the crop dry enough to prevent some mildew, 
which is detrimental to them, being liable to cause 
heaves, but this is not objectionable for cattle feeding. 
It is a most excellent feed for cattle or sheep, being 
excelled only by Alfalfa. Clover is a gross feeder and 
is rich in nitrogen, storing up much of that element 
in the soil for future crops. Being a biennial, it will 
die out after the second year unless it reseeds itself by 
the cutting of a seed crop, which we practice as nearly 
as possible. We have maintained the clover crop on 
our farm for many years without reseeding. 
VALUE OF ALFALFA.—Believing that your read¬ 
ers would be more interested in the clover crop than 
that of Alfalfa I have given some experience with that 
crop, but we have a better and more excellent feed in 
