Vol. LXIX. No. 4071 
NEW YORK, NOVEMBER 5, 1910. 
WEEKLY, $1.00 PER YEAR. 
NEW YORK STATE HORSES. 
What Farmers Should Raise. 
“That is a nice pair of mares, Mr. P.,” I remarked 
to the owner after I had inspected his well-matched 
pair of black grade Percherons. They were very well 
built, and showed strongly the Percheron type, but 
they weighed only about 1200 pounds each. 
“Yes, I think they are pretty good, and they ought 
to be, for I paid $550 for them right green from the 
West when they were only three and four years old. 
You know how the Western horses have a distemper 
cr fever when they first come here, so that they arc 
not of much account for a time even if they do not go 
blind, get thick wind or something else. I would give 
at least $100 more for a pair of State-bred horses that 
would not have to go through this acclimating process.” 
“It seems strange that 
the farmers do not raise 
more such horses right 
here in New York State. 
There is certainly cheap 
land enough to raise 
them on,” I suggested. 
“That is just what I 
think,” he replied, “and 
I have recently bred that 
o ff mare to ‘Stilts’ 
(which, is not the name 
of the trotter he men¬ 
tioned) and I shall breed 
the other one very soon.” 
“What in the world are 
you breeding that splen¬ 
did pair of grade Perch¬ 
erons to ‘Stilts’ for? 
Don’t you know that 
there is a first-class im¬ 
ported Percheron weigh¬ 
ing 1000 pounds owned 
within five miles from 
here?” 
“Yes, but 1600 pounds 
is too heavy for a farm 
horse, and I thought that 
the colts from ‘Stilts’ 
would sell better. Mr. S., 
who owns ‘Stilts,’ told 
me that the colt would 
probably be not quite so 
tall as ‘Stilts,’ and not 
quite so blocky as my 
mare, and would make a 
splendid carriage horse, 
just such as the city 
people pay high prices 
for and are glad to get.” 
“My friend, did you ever shuffle a pack of cards 
and then try to pick out the joker? Well, you have a 
better chance to pick the joker than you have to get a 
fancy carriage horse from the union of ‘Stilts’ and 
your grade Percheron. Now I will draw a picture of 
what you may get: He will be long-legged, and those 
legs will be crooked and wobbly. His bones will be 
coarse and his hips will stick out ready to get bruised 
on everything he comes in contact with. His head will 
be too big for his neck, which will be put on bottom 
side up, and what little brain that head contains will 
run to general cussedness. After you have shoveled 
good feed into him for four or five years you will be 
glad to sell him for what little he will bring, and then 
you will put a hundred or two hundred dollars of 
good money with it and go and buy another green 
Western colt raised by a man who was not so green.” 
The “Highlander” and the “Morgan” were all right 
in their day on the farm, but that day has gone. To¬ 
day one man and his team and tools are doing what 
five men and the old-fashioned tools and the little 
horses once did. Fifteen years ago, when horses were 
cheap, we were told that they would never be high 
again, because electricity would drive them out of the 
cities and autos would drive them off the roads. But 
horses are higher to-day than ever because they are 
in demand by the fanners faster than they can be 
raised. 'Hie electrified cities arc growing enormously, 
and their eating capacity is enormous also. Those 
cities are sending us big machines to do the work of 
the men of which they have robbed us, but we must 
exercise “horse sense” and not try to operate those 
machines with balky ponies. j. grant morse. 
FARM HORSES FOR OHIO. 
Ideas vary as to the most desirable horse for the farm. 
MANTELL,” A FRENCH COACH HORSE IN MASSACHUSETTS. Fig. 437. 
Many fanners are of the opinion that a horse that is 
a sort of cross between a race horse, a coach horse and 
a drafter, and usually styled a general-purpose horse, 
is the ideal horse for a farmer to own. They argue 
that these horses are fast enough for them to drive, 
and that they are capable of a lot of heavy team work 
on the farm. Such horses weigh around 1100 pounds, 
perhaps, in good flesh, and do give a good account of 
themselves on the farm, but it requires three to pull a 
14-inch plow and three or four to pull a binder, and 
they do not seem to have the chest capacity and 
stamina to stand heavy hauling. If much racing blood 
enters into their make-up, these horses, besides being 
speedy for light driving, have a good fast gait when at 
work, and if not overburdened are capable of doing 
lots of work in a day. Of course such horses are suit¬ 
able for farm work, but there their usefulness ends, 
and unless you can sell such horses to other farmers 
there is no market for them. On the large markets 
they are classed as farm chunks and sell for $50 to 
$160, while heavy drafters bring $125 to $275, accord¬ 
ing to condition. Farmers say they like these general- 
purpose horses because they are clean-limbed, active 
and have some speed. The Percheron horse, to a won¬ 
derful degree, suits this description, and besides has 
size, weighing 1600 to 1800 pounds in fair flesh, and 
on the market brings the large prices. In spite of their 
size and weight they have good action and a fast walk 
when at work. These horses have a quick, stylish ac¬ 
tion and are excellent drivers, especially on heavy 
roads. The Percheron is the draft and general-purpose 
horse of France, where they do all of the heavy work 
and quite a lot of driving. It should be remembered 
that the French have plenty of light drivers and also 
the well-known French Coach horse. Coacii horses are 
noted for their height, speed and fine stylish action. 
Good coachers sell for 
good round prices on the 
market as carriage horses. 
They have the racing 
conformation, but have 
greater scale and weight, 
and almost the speed of 
the racer. A farmer could 
produce some coachers 
at a good profit were it 
lot for the fact that such 
horses are not really suit¬ 
able for farm work. 
The Percheron horse 
was developed by the 
French people to suit 
their conditions; it is 
their national draft breed, 
and under government 
control and patronage 
has developed to a con¬ 
siderable degree of ex¬ 
cellence. This horse is 
well suited to American 
conditions, and Percheron 
horses and Percheron 
grades are steadily in¬ 
creasing in numbers. If 
you can keep but two 
horses see that they are 
of the draft type, Perch¬ 
erons preferably, and if 
you wish to raise some 
colts, by all means raise 
drafters, for draft horses 
are more easily trained 
and sell better than the 
so-called general-purpose 
horse or any other kind 
of horse excepting coach¬ 
ers. Most farmers can afford to keep one or two light 
driving horses, for in a pinch, if well trained, such 
horses can help in harvest, in seeding and at other 
times when an extra horse is needed, and to have a 
fresh horse for quick drives is quite a satisfaction, be¬ 
sides saving the energy of the working team. How¬ 
ever, for the farm and for market the Percheron is a 
great horse. He has style, size and quickness. What 
more do you want? w. e. duckwall. 
Ohio. 
A CHEMICAL FARMER’S HAY CROP. 
Some weeks ago, on page 803, Mr. E. Van Alstyne 
told us about the grass farm of II. C. Quinion, of 
Columbia County, N. Y. Mr. Quinion is a western 
man, but left that part of the country and bought a 
cheap farm which had the reputation of being badly 
run down. He is bringing that farm up through the 
use of chemical fertilizers, and his proposition is that 
