STANDARD OF DRAUGHTS.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1398, 26 March 1912, Page 8

STANDARD OF DRAUGHTS.

IS IT DETERIORATING? There has been published in various quarters (writes Jrr. J. ]!. .Mackenzie to tho "Otugo Witness') a statoincnt as to tho stnmlurd of draught hor.se.s ileteriorat- ''!?• • • • Now. as to the .Aiintnilian trade of three shijinumls that have gone forward lately, one was fold at a loss and fivo out of SO horses were sold, tho rest being.held over. Oats aro over 3s. and chaff is np to .£5. so where the profit is to come in f do not know. Certainly the breeders kept the corn last season and the shippers got the chaff. So much for the chaff tale! The writer in question Rues on to say that the foals this season are not as good as in previous years. AVell, tho horses travelling the Western district of Scotland last season wero mostly colonial bred, .while for some seasons beforo an imported horso was located in that district, as well as soaie of those old bloods that are spoken of, yet the imported horse's stock carried all before them in the show yards. Again, this year another imported horse won from Christclynrch to Invercargill, both himself and his stock wherever shown, and this against all tlio old-time sires in the South Island. I admit right away that I do not hold with "rubbish" of any sort, and the man who sets out to breed any class of stock and does not use the very best fire procurable ia_a long way off the track of success. No doubt, also, nianj" inferior sires are imported and also bred and kept in the colonies. What Commands Top Price. Now, as an exporter of over 10 years' standing. 1 can safely soy that the' best, both mares and stallions, I have shipped were by imported stallions, and these inyariably got top prices in Australia, and in my many trips in search of horses I found the good ones where the best imported Clydesdale horses have been always used. The old-fashionod, very hairy coarse-boned horse is. like many other old fashions, out of date. The up-to-date j farmer must go with the times and produce tho horse and other stock that the users require. The demand is fer a smart, active, horse with good feet, anicles, and hard, flinty-bone that vjll last and stand tho wear and tear of heavy fast work. To have this it is not necessary to have a, simill, light horse, but horses of weight and substance, up to a ton weight, and these, if bred on true Clydesdale lines, will be as active as any smaller l.vpn and be free from the filth of the old types with coarse, hair and bone. A Word of Warning. Xow, ono word to warn the New Zealand breeders and shippers, diid. that is that Australia has had nearly ten good seasons, and breeders over there have not been idle and have been breeding great numbers of cart horses, and now, instead of no Australian colts being on the market there aro hundreds, so that the demand for New Zealand colta cannot bt> so keen; and this must also affect the fillies and geldings. In tho past many colts hiivo gone to Australia that should never havo been allowed to leavo our shores. These have not been a success. Another drawback to our horses has been influenza and colds caught on board ship, and this has got our horses a bad name, as many havo died-and been unsuccessful at the stud tliroiißli the effects of these ailments. Outside all this, a better class of.horse is beingjntroduced from Great Britain, and, liko New Zealand breeder's, Australians are looking more to tho British horse, simply because ho is bred more to a type and can bo better relied on to produce highclass stock. One only requires to look round tho show rings of Australia or New Zealand and ho will find the stock of British-bred sires always in' tho lead. The true test of merit is the sale ring, and here again these horses mostly tip tho scales.

Let mo offer a word of advice to farmers and breeders, and that is to make liberal use of tho knife, on all males, whether horses, cattle, sheep, or other farm animals which aro not of a high standard, and tho ones left intact will make more Ijionoy than twico tho number of mediums and will cost half to feed. Tho moral is, only keep tho best females and use the best sires, and then they will bo a profit both to themselves and their country.