376 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
April  23,  1901. 
A  Few  Notes  on  Horse  Breeding. 
The  breeding  season  for  heavy  horses  is  already  nearly  a 
month  gone,  but  it  may  not  yet  be  too  late  to  make  a  few 
suggestions  in  connection  thereAvith.  There  is  a  plentiful 
supply  of  entire  horses  travelling  the  country,  and  farmers  have 
not  far  to  go  to  find  one  when  required.  Whether  the  majority 
of  them  is  worth  finding  is  quite  another  matter. 
AVe  have  noticed  at  the  farm  sales  this  spring  a  very  con¬ 
siderable  falling  away  in  the  quality  and  condition  of  the  horses 
offered,  and  consequently  in  the  prices  realised.  All  farmers 
are  not  equally  gifted  with  a  knowledge  of  horseflesh,  and  the 
points  required  in  breeding  mares  and  the  choice  of  stallions; 
but  there  must  be  something  more  than  a  coincidence  in  the 
fact  that  all  these  sales  were  alike  as  to  the  poor  quality  of 
the  horses  to  be  sold.  Some  farmers  breed  no  horse's  at  all, 
but  buy  foals  or  yearlings,  which  they  grow  on  until  they  are  of 
workable  age.  At  one  sale  of  stock  belonging  to  this  type  of 
farmer,  out  of  the  whole  22  or  23  horses  offered,  there  was  not 
one  absolutely  sound  one.  They  were  bought  as  foals  and 
yearlings  from  fairs  or  from  small  farmers.  We  know  another 
farmer  who  does  not  breed,  but  he  buys  his  relays  when  fully 
developed  and  fit  for  work  at  three  or  four  years  old.  He  has 
to  pay  more  dearly  for  them,  but,  as  a  rule,  knows  what  he  is 
buying,  and  his  teams  are  a  credit  to  him. 
It  would  be  interesting  to  know  Avhat  proportion  of  foals 
bred  here  annually  are  bred  by  occupiers  of  small  farms,  but'we 
imagine  it  must  be  a  large  one.  Hundreds  of  small  farmers 
owning  one,  or  at  most  two,  mares,  breed  a  foal  annually,  and 
depend  upon  it  to  provide  a  portion  of  the  autumn  rent.  These 
small  farmers,  however,  do  not  tisnally  own  mares  of  high  class. 
They  are  often  old,  and  still  more  frequently  nnsound,  but  are 
valuable  to  their  owners  as  being  regular  breeders.  We  have 
kiioAvn  such  a  mare  breed  eleven  foals  in  eleven  successive  years. 
The.se  “little”  men  do  not  like  paying  heavy  hor.se  fees  of 
two  or  three  guineas,  but  expect  to  get  a  foal  for  £T.  To  them 
a  foal  is  a  foal  so  long  as  it  will  sell  when  reai'ed,  so  these 
creatures  are  badly  bred  from  unsound  parents,  and  it  is  not 
surprising  that  purchasers  do  not  find  them  grow  on  in  the 
right  Avay.  The  best  class  of  heavy  horse  is  generally  found  on 
farms  of  fair  siae,  the  occupiers  of  Avhich  make  a  special  business 
of  breeding.  These  men  seldom  or  never  sell  foals,  and  rarely 
sell  anything  under  five  years.  Breeding  from  sound  mares  by 
sound  horses,  the  produce  must  be  Avorth  groAving  on,  and  the 
bleeder  of  such  finds  them  much  more  profitable  than  bullocks 
as  grazing  stock.  He  therefoi;e  does  not  sell,  but  grazes  them 
himself,  so  the  non-breeding  farmer  avIio  AAants  yearlings  or 
foals  has  to  buy  the  common  bred  ones  from  the  small  farmers 
AA  ho  have  them  to  sell.  AVe  have  knoAvn  many  farmers  breed 
successfully,  and  then,  after  tAA'o  or  three  years  of  bad  fortune, 
give  it  up  as  hopeless,  and  try  no  more. 
Theie  are  tAvo  kinds  of  bad  luck  in  horse-breeding;  one 
farmer  cannot  get  his  mares  to  breed  at  all;  another  can  have 
plenty  of  foals,  but  cannot  keep  them  alive.  Noav,  doubtless 
there  are  many  non-breeding  or  barren  mares,  but  not  nearly 
so  many  as  some  people  imagine.  AA'e  hav'e  knoAvn  so  many 
cases  of  mares  being  declared  non-breeders  Avhich,  after  getting 
into  fz'esh  hands,  have  bred  regularly,  that  aao  have  become 
someAvhat  sceptical  Avhen  hearing  one  so  described.  Sometimes 
the  men  in  charge  of  mares  do  not  wish  them  to  have  foals,  and 
this  especially  applies  to  single  waggoners.  A  Avaggoner  is 
Ajften  loth  to  lose  the  best  animal  out  of  Ids  team  for  moi'e  than 
half  the  year,  and  to  have  her  come  back  to  him  Avith  all  the 
bloom  off.  Drugs  are  often  administered  to  prevent  breeding, 
l)ut  they  ai'e  more  often  still  the  cause  A\dien  they  have  been 
given,  not  Avith  that  particular  object,  but  for  other  reasons. 
If  attempts  to  breed  from  a  mare  have  failed,  and  the  OAvner 
is  anxious  about  it,  and  Avilling  to  give  time  to  effect  the  pur¬ 
pose,  the  best  Avay  is  to  turn  her  aAvay  to  gra.ss  as  soon  as  there 
is  any ;  to  alloAv  no  corn,  and  to  use  a  young  and  active  stallion. 
Many  entire  horses  are  too  fat  by  half,  and  not  in  sufficiently 
muscular  condition.  One  of  the  best  of  foal-getters  Ave  ever 
kneAv  Avorked  in  a  cart  from  August  to  February,  and  we  know 
of  a  similar  case  at  the  present  time.  Some  of  these  common 
20s.-a-mare-horses  have  to  Avork,  and  AA'ork  hard,  out  of  “  the 
season,”  and  that  is  often  the  secret  of  their  success. 
Then,  there  is  the  Avant  of  success  in  rearing.  There  is  no 
need  to  hide  the  fact  that  foals  are  delicate  animals,  and  require 
careful  treatment.  They  are  very  sirsceptible  to  sudden  changes 
of  temperature,  and  should  have  arrived  at  five  or  six  weeks  of 
age  before  any  risk  may  be  run  of  letting  them  be  out  in  the 
rain.  The  loose-box  in  Avhich  a  mare  and  foal  are  confined  must 
be  kept  in  a  good  sanitary  state.  Foul  bedding  must  be  regu¬ 
larly  cleaned  out,  and  disinfectants  freely  used.  Even  with 
every  care  success  cannot  be  assured.  There  is  a  complaint 
named  joint-evil,  which  is  very  fatal  to  foals,  and  it  attacks 
them  on  some  farm  premises  Avith  great  pertinacity  and  in  spite 
of  all  precautions.  It  is  also  very  difficult  to  cure.  When  there 
is  a  diflSculty  in  getting  a  mare  to  breed,  sometimes  the  use  of  a 
light-legged  stallion  Avill  get  over  the  trouble.  Then,  the 
nse  of  one  of  the  cheap,  hard-worked  horses  might  do  the  trick. 
Once  in  foal,  it  is  not  difficult  to  get  a  mare  to  breed  again  if 
care  is  taken  to  mate  her  again  about  the  tenth  or  eleventh  day 
after  foaling.  If  that  date  is  missed  there  may  be  a  long  delay. 
Work  on  the  Home  Farm. 
The  past  Aveek  has  been  marked  by  ideal  spring  Aveather,  and 
except  on  one  very  Avet  day,  great  headAvay  has  been  made. 
The  rain  Avas  most  opportune,  and  quite  suflficient  to  soften  the 
hardest  of  clods.  EveryAAdiere  around  do  Ave  see  the  drills  at 
AA'ork,  and  there  aaIU  be  vei'y  little  late  soAvn  barley  after  all. 
Those  Avho,  like  our.selves,  had  already  soAvn-up,  are  having 
the  satisfaction  of  seeing  barley  and  oats  come  through  the  soil 
in  record  time  ;  and  a  continuance  of  the  present  Avarmth  will 
soon  put  spring  corn  into  a  state  of  average  forwardne.ss,  Avhich 
could  certainly  not  have  been  anticipated  a  month  ago. 
AA'e  are  putting  our  mangolds  in  a  feAv  days  before  our  usual 
time,  but  the  opportunity  immediately  after  such  a  grand  rain 
Avas  too  tempting  to  be  disregarded.  We  have  ridged,  manured 
(12  loads  to  the  acre),  and  split  the  ridges,  and  drilled,  all  in  a 
feAA'  hours,  thus  preserving  the  moisture  so  necessary  for  the 
geimination  of  mangold  seed.  AA’e  have  not  steeped  our  seed 
before  drilling  this  year,  as  it  appeared  quite  unnecessary. 
AATieat  is  improving,  but  it  still  looks  very  badly.  AA'e  are 
going  to  top-dress  ours  Avith  1  CAvt  nitrate  and  2  caaT  super¬ 
phosphate.  AA^e  shall  roll  the  Avheat  first,  then  sow  the  manure, 
and  harroAv  in  Avith  light  harroAvs. 
Many  farmers  Avill  question  this  top-dressing  as  being  unlikely 
to  pa}'.  AA'e  are  confident  about  it.  AA'e  shall  AA-ant  every  atom 
of  AA  lieat-straAv  that  Ave  can  produce,  and  if  Ave  groAv  10  CAvt  more 
straAv  per  acre  by  aid  of  this  top-dressing,  Ave  shall  be  well 
repaid,  apart  from  any  probable  increa.se  of  grain.  AA'e  knoAv 
that  some  people  do  not  highly  value  straAv  for  use  on  the  farm, 
putting  it  at  not  more  than  20s.  per  ton.  If  Ave  could  buy  straw 
at  20s.  and  sell  manure  at  5s.  per  load,  cattle  feeding  Avould 
pay. 
AA'ith  plenty  of  sunshine  and  no  frost,  pastui'es  are  running 
right  aAvay  from  the  sheep,  Avhich  are  naturally  doing  A'ery  aa'oII. 
Having  got  our  lambs  docked  and  counted  heads,  aa'o  find  the 
tale  very  satisfactory;  1^  lambs  per  ewe  Avill  do  A'ery  well. 
Having  marketed  our  best  hogs,  direct  from  turnips,  Ave  are 
clipping  the  culls  and  giving  them  cake  on  seeds.  Having  been 
relieved  of  their  avooI,  they  thrive  Avonderfully  if  the  pa.sture  is 
good,  and  they  Avill  soon  be  ready  for  market.  Store  pigs  are 
a  little  dearer,  but  pork  is  almost  unsaleable. 
Ijambs’  tails  should  be  docked  at  once  if  they  have  not  yet 
been  done,  and  ca.strating  should  also  be  performed  Avhere  it  is, 
deemed  desirable.  In  districts  Avhere  sheep  are  Tisually  fed  off 
at  tAA'elve  months  or  less  there  is  not  much  benefit  from  castra¬ 
tion,  if  any,  but  there  is  an  advantage  if  fat  AA'ethers  are. the 
animals  in  demand  by  butchers. 
