Show I Horse Still Popular Despite the Auto I J r4 I A MORE than ono hundred thousand MORK Lu motor cars were manufactured In the United States last year and the manufacturers estimate that twice tho output will be sold In 1910 Has the prIce of horses been lowered Will it be affected In the future Men who deal In horses say that tho horse Industry In general not only has been unaffected by the development of power vehicles but the price of horses has increased more than fifty per cent within the last five year To prove this assertion the horse lover refers to the lust report of the United States department of agri culture The report contains several complimentary statements about DobbIn Dob-bin The government statistician has found that since 1890 horses have increased In-creased 812 per cent in price and I U3G per cent in number Two years I ngo there were 1108000 horses In Kansas and 957000 In Missouri The average value a head was S7 In Kansas Kan-sas and SS in Missouri One year later January 1 1909the number of horses In Kansas had Increased to 1152000 with an increase In value of two dollars a head In Missouri on the same date the number of horses was 995000 and their value had increased in-creased three dollars a head The horse lover Is careful to explain that in arriving at the values given tho statistician has hnd to estimate thousands of horses worth not more than 148 each which brings down tho average The veriest old windbroken skates have been sold on the market this year for 75 each remarked tho horse lover and a good draft horse will sell for 250 any day Yes replied tho motorist after the report has been read to him the statistics sta-tistics undoubtedly give tho horse tho best of it but notice that the animal referred to Is tho fnrm horso Although Al-though the steam plow and motor truck have made encroachments upon the usefulness of the draft horse ho still Is Indispensable HIs city brothers broth-ers have suffered from competition by the motor car What about the prlco of carriage and saddle horses and the nags that pull express and delivery wagons I Only the horses used for pleasure driving have suffered In price from the use of motor cars Few motor car I owners keep I a stable in addition to a garage and the result has been a do preciation In tho value of harness horses A matched harness team that two years ago sold for 700 or 800 will at present bring not more than 500 or GOO The discarding of carriage horses by motorists may be tho reason that tho price of horses purchased by tho United States has remained stationary for the last year Some of the horses replaced by motor cars are bought by firms that require bettor stock than the ordinary wagon horse There aro I horses drawing hearses In Kansas City today that a few years ago were owned by wealthy men who wero proud of their judgment of horseflesh When the motor fever attacked them the horses were sold at the first prlco offered The wagon horse Is no slouch Every year his price has climbed until un-til today It Is Impossible to buy a serviceable team for less than 100 |