Show NEED MORE COLTS FOR FARM WORK that th the e old did pay cray p ay mare aint what she he us used t to 0 be Is indicated by a study which 11 c Q boss of the farm organization and management department part ment college of agriculture university of 11 illinois his has made of the ages age of horses nola and mules on ral 1111 farms farma at the beginning of this year these farms represented all parts of the state and in included eded 4 horses and mules abc the average age as shown by the study Is a little litlie more than nine years the number ot of alne year olds was also greater than that of any other agi age making UP op per cent of the entire number cumber except for one age the proportion of horses and mules decreased steadily with each age from the nine year olds down to last years colts which made up only 28 per cent of the horse population on these farms farina if colts were produced just tor for replacement of the farm horse supply the largest numbers of horses and mules would occur in the youngest age group find and gradually decrease with the older gro groups ups instead the exact reverse Is true the number of horses of working ages on farms farina are no doubt influenced to some extent by those sold from the farms but those below working age should indicate how bow far replacement needs are being supplied those under three years which include the colt crops of die past three years made up per cent of the total if it Is assumed that horses average aver age ten years of productive work those under three years should make up SO 30 per cent of the total if no allowance Is made for sales from the farms to maintain the present horse supply with the present rate of breeding would require that the period of usefulness be extended from 10 years to years or that the horses attain an average age of years without becoming pensioners approximately half the farms stub studied used tractors however there were no appreciable differences in ages of horses on farms using tractors as compared with those using horses only for power of all horses and mules included slightly more than a fifth or per cent were under five years of age a third or per cent were live five years and under ten per cent were ten years and under fifteen per cent fifteen years and under twenty and 4 per cent were twenty years or older these figures check quite closely with a similar study ma made de by the federal department ol of agriculture about a year ago ago |