PRODUCTION OF DRAFT HORSES.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VI, Issue 450, 23 March 1912, Page 7

PRODUCTION OF DRAFT HORSES.

Only a few men succeed in raising ! trotting horses, as it requires a good deal of time and skill in their development. Perhaps more men would succeed with the coach horse than with the trotter, but the work on the farm, such as ploughing, harrowing and drawing the binder, is not the best to develop good knee and hock action and a farmer cannot be on the road all of the time and succeed very well farming. In my estimation, the best horse for the farmer to breed is the draft horse, as it can be developed and do a good deal of work at the same time. Having determined to breed horses, do not make hash of it by using a Percheron for a year or two, then switch over to a Clydesdale and then a Belgian, but select your breed and then stick to it and in a few years you will have practically pure-breds. And the farmers in a community should have the same breed if possible, as they will sell far more if buyers can buy a car-load without much travel. HOW TO MAKE A SUCCESS OF BREEDING. To make a success of breeding, we must keep our best mares. They should be of good weight, not less than fourteen hundred pounds and heavier would be better. They should be sound with good bone. Use the best stallion obtainable, regardless of service fee. What is five or ten dollars in the price of a horse, and the difference between the colts from a pure-bred and a scrub stallion is often from twenty-five to one hundred dollars. After having the good mares and a good horse, see that the mares are well cared for. They can be worked steadily all the time ; in fact, they are better for being worked. If not at work, give them a good roomy yard or field to run in every day when not too stormy. We work our mares up to foaling time, then give them a good clean box stall to foal

Be on ham! when the little fellow comes and see that everything is all right. Disinfect the navel with a good disinfectant. I like Dr. Alexander's prescription the best of anything I ever used. It is one-half ounce of corrosive sublime in one pint, of boiling water acidulated with one dram of hydrochloric acid. When cold add two drams of tincture of iron. Apply two or three times a day until the navel is healed. See that the stall is kept clean and dry. Clean it out thoroughly twice a day and dry it with land plaster, and slacked lime or coal ashes, and keep the bedding clean. Feed the mare lightly for a few (lays. We let our mares rest after foaling for ten days or two weeks and then they are put to work, using them very carefully at first and ''bringing them in in the middle of the forenoon and the middle, of the afternoon to let the colts suck. We never iet the colts follow the mares while at work.