Show AGRICULTURAL Breeding and Training Colts in Per clteMr M W Dunham ol Illinois are extensive importerof Perche and Norman horaee in a letter to Wallace Wal-lace 3 Monthly thus describes the human treatment bestowed upon colts while in training in that part of France specially devoted to this industry The division of the sexes in Percbe differs from most countries where horses are raised One section sec-tion has he mares and produce the colts wails another section buys and raweu them No matter what maybe may-be the class to which she belongs light or heavy or partaking of botb the mare is expected to breed every year If barren she is sold This fault continuing she passes into pub lie use During her gestation she works constantly A few days rest before and after foaling is the only time lost The remainder of her work pays abundantly for keep and interest on her cost At the age of five or BIZ months the colt is abruptly ab-ruptly weaned and sold Led into the interior upon the fertile meadows it remains one year unproductive in winter it is fed on hay in tbe stable and during the fine season turned into the field to graze JCo eum up it is rather poorly ncuriahed on bran grabs cr bay The reason is tbat it is yet unproductive to its master and it feels the eflect Wait a little Its hardest time has gone by and work will soften its lot It reaches in this manner the age of fifteen or eighteen eigh-teen months At this age the colt is put to work Naturally docile in the hands of a man always patient and kind the training is generally easy Assigned to farm labor the colt ploughs or draws a wagon Harnessed Har-nessed with four or five colts of its LWU age together they pull what would be an easy load for two good horses Put before oxen or joined to three of its companions the young animal ploughs and is never overworked over-worked Now it is fed better and receives better care Its moraleirn provesand its masterseems to delight in contemplating the progress and development of the desirable qualities quali-ties Master servant large and small all deeply imbued with the love of the horse unite in this work with admirable skill Thus in traveling travel-ing through Perche one involuntarily stops in the middle of the field to seethe see-the colt woik never tired of admiring the vigor it displays and the gentleness gentle-ness with which it ia treated At the age of three the Beauoa farmers buy the colt to work his soft and light soil For him the animal must be preserved intact its development uninjured un-injured nay encouraged The colt has thus been worked one year abundantly fed but supplied with little lit-tle or no grain Doing enough light work to pay its keeping the master has received enough beside the manure man-ure to pay a heavy interest on the cost of bis colt The primitive work which would have been injurious under careless management ia on the contrary beneficial so long as the colt is in the hands of a good master This is so much the general case that the contrary is the exception The animal grows and becomes better developed de-veloped in size and strength than if not worked JJ Exterminating GrassesAny plant which makes an early and rapid growth and attains a considerable height will overtop and smother slower or lower growers and more effectually ef-fectually if their leaves are large or wide spreading Even annuals in light soil which their roots can penetrate pene-trate easily will choke down perennials peren-nials if they get a vigorous start in advance by reason of having full plump seeds dropped in favorable places Heavy wet soils are occupied occu-pied by coarse aquatic or semiaquatic plants because others cannot endure to have their roots immersed in water continually or even occasionally On such soils draining is an essential for the production of good forage plants On soils dry enough and fertile enough to produce good pasture the grasses which have creeping stems which run alone close to the surface like white clover or just below it like blue grass are enabled by this lowly attitude to save all but their leaves from the closest cropping even of sheep or goats They also resist the compacting of the soil by the feet of animals and so they remain safe when every leaf and branch of competing com-peting annuals or perennials that are within the reach of animals ia eaten to the root and weakened to doath They resist fire in the same way and in many localities can ba made to take the place of coarse plants by a good burning of the latter in May or June and again in August or whenever when-ever practicable followed by a thick seeding of the natural pasture grasses sowed just before the fall rains and then protected through autumn and spring until just when competing plants begin to threaten with their foliage By this time they will be able to endure some pressure and sheep should be turned in to stay as long as they are hungry and willing to feed on tbe tender young sprouts of the wild plants What they will not eafshculd be promptly out down But the sheepgrazing is trebly best for their feet consolidate the soil without breaking roots or stems ihey leave strong and distributed manure and above all they eat almost every wild plant while its shoot are yet young and tenderthe bitter or noxious nox-ious qualities not yet developed Incessant In-cessant stocking of pastures will bring about the destruction of even the blue grass and render the roots so weak for want of full grown leaves to prepare material for their extension exten-sion that in the absence of cattle annuals an-nuals from scattering seeds or latent i i I perennials will come to the front again and overtop the grass Grazing Graz-ing must be managed with prudence The grasses must have a chance to develop their leaves fully J especially before winter or there cannot be other than a weak start in the spring Manure will not serve as substitute in this case Franklin County Times |