112 
PUKE BRED DRAFT HORSES 
indicates that there is little or no need of feeding purchased mill feeds to 
growing horses when alfalfa can be grown on the farm. When alfalfa 
hay is the roughage used, a considerable proportion of the grain ration 
may safely be corn. In this experiment the proportion was one-half by 
weight. 
“The average total feed consumed per head during the experiment was 
45.35 bushels of corn, 79.36 bushels of oats, 2.58 tons of alfalfa hay, and 
four-fifths of an acre of good grass. The average total grain in weight 
per individual was 690.5 pounds, and in height, 7.96 inches. The average 
daily gain was IV 3 pounds. 
“During the first winter an average of 5.674 pounds of grain and 4.266 
pounds of hay was required per pound of gain. The second winter feed¬ 
ing period required an average of 9.228 pounds of grain and 12.99 pounds 
of hay per pound of gain. 
“The average weight of the lot at twelve months was 1,112 pounds; at 
twenty-four months, 1,548 pounds. The average weight of eight head, the 
two youngest fillies being excluded, at corresponding ages, was 1,128 
pounds and 1,578 pounds respectively. The growthiest filly weighed 1,260 
pounds at twelve months and 1,775 pounds at twenty-four months. 
“. . . The three sets of prices used in figuring the feed cost show 
$86.88, $105.50, and $108.49, respectively, as the value of the feed con¬ 
sumed by the ten head.” 
Harper, 84 in his investigations on the raising of colts at Cornell Uni¬ 
versity, arrived at: That “it requires 4,746 pounds of grain and 6,804 
pounds of hay to grow a colt up to spring when he is three years of age 
and of an average weight of 1270 pounds. This is approximately 2 2-5 
tons of grain and 3 2-5 tons of hay.” That “on general farms, where 
there is much work for the horses during the rush seasons and scant 
work at other times . . . that the work may be performed by brood 
mares; that the mares may raise a colt in addition to the work per¬ 
formed; and that the colts produced under such conditions not only pro¬ 
vide a means for the disposal of extra farm produce, but in addition 
yield a profit of approximately $50 a head, or 30 per cent on the invest¬ 
ment.” Harper goes on to say that “further, in this calculation, the colts 
are at a disadvantage inasmuch as they are under age, the most profitable 
market age being approximately five years.” 
