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SHOW ALARMING SHORTAGE ] STATISTICS REVEAL SCANT SUPPLY OF ARMY . HORSE MATERIAL IN THE WEST. i Major-General Wood to Discuss the Situation at , Sportsmens Dinner Next Monday — American Stallions in Europe. New York, February 15.— The MM bold i nmigh to assert thai tin- United State* ta at this moment a I pauper iii mi- Importanl respect might Ik regarded a- .in alarmist ot the moat dangerous character, v.i nick mm exist ii bo lea* persons than the officials whose dull in tin1 rariooi western --t a I t-s it i to !;•-. -p stal i-i les of Htallioaa doing ~ -iv i«-i-. In tin tast thirty years the importation of draft tdallion* ha* been going on to such an extent a* t" amaze tbow who now for the tir-i time realhte It* magnitude. Improved roads ami the demand for lieavv machinery on farm-- have *o built an the de-luami for heavy draft borne* thai ii Is difficult to liml ■ thoroughbred, a Morgan, or a trotting stnl lion. Instead you will find thousands of what are aptly named ••lymphatic" Belgians, Percherons. Hyde* and Shin -. whose offspring wonld be ahoat :iv asefnl .1- oxen l": cavalry pnrposea in tlane of war. In Wisconsin, for Instance, the registration bureaus report shows ■ total of 2.028 stallions In the whole .fate, if these, only three are thoroughbred stallions. Think of it. Kansas has o.:;or. stall ion* ■ t all kimls. inn only twelve thoroughbreds. Worse yet, iii Iowa, the second greatest horse-growing Ktati in the l?nkm, there is not a single Oaorough-lired st.i:l,..n. in Minnesota arc L 2.": stallions, but ouly one thoroughbred. In South Dakota are 1.388 draft stallions, one buudred Jackasses and one tbor ouguhred. In the meat state of Illinois, where at i.iii uerlcd in** racing must have given employment to many hundred Ktallions, there are now 9,370 licensed horses, i.h: the exact number of thoroughbreds could nol be ascertained, yet the ■bowing i-io iloubl almost as bad as in adjoining states. Ileie, in N«W York state, the Status of bOTSe- ** breeding has fallen Into auch an alarming state ilia i no less an authority than Prof, V. M. Harper i Cornell University, has sent thousands of letters i. ut to farmers of the state suggesting the formu-Ihio of a -!••. k raising aaaoriatlan among farmers. Professor Harper, in his circular, showed thai lietween 1900 and l91o the number of horses in this state bad decreased to the extent of 38,000, which a the moderate estimate of 38 each meant ■ loss of g3.2N2.00O. This scarcity had of course caused an Increase in price ot 1912.sh0. or about seven tj -ix per f«u i . per head. The number of horses in this -i.i i.. iii 1910 were raiO.OOO, tbetr average value 0130. making the total 2,010,000, or marly equal - in--, the combined value ot" the entile, sheep and i ■_- a* ued in il.is state. Professor Harper goes on to show how western breeders are supplying New York state with horses Io the value ol K10.OOO.Oia annually. Ilis estimate* are thai the light horse can be raised for *I4.". ami the heaw "iie at an outside estimate of 73. An other remarkable fad i- that the introduction of the automobile into genera use by farmers and others baa uol affected adversely the marker, as the rarae of horses has gone up seventy six per cent. All i li i- and much other useful matter has been , ut to Gen. Leonard Wood to be used aa ■ basis for In- speech aex! Monday niirlit at the Sportsmens Dinner. His remark- will U- reported in all the New Yeik papers and by the Associated Press, hence the people of these United States w ill be pretty well informed a- to the DOVertJ in horses. ami especially the thoroughbred. And now to another Importanl matter. Suppose there came a strong demand for the thoroughbred or half bred. Suppose that we all al once were called upon to supplj i foreign market with thoroughbreds .i half-bred*. Suppose we ourselvea hid Immediate urgent necessity for a loo.oim such horses. How many years would it Im- before we could begla i" till it": With the universal craze on the pail l lior win:- to emasculate young bones, see the enormous damage done to the breeding Interests. ! -av that the gelding allowai.ee i- now a menace to tiir struggling breeding industry, and that the various racing authorities of the country should for the next feu years put a stop to it. So long as the average hi- owner know- thai geldings are to receive he three pounds now allowed by the rules ot racing, just to long will Ihej continue the indiscriminate use of the knife on their young horses. 1 am quite aware that this Is not the Bole reason for the common practice of castration, and that in numerous cases there are excellent physiological reasons, affecting he normal strength aa well aa the temper of the horse. Under ordinary circumstances the use of the k ii i f e on many hundreds of young horses was not onlj well advised, hut really neces-sarv, perhaps, to prevent the increase too rapidly ..i a breed of "weeds." Bat we are now facing t desi erate state ol affairs. The thousands of horses M.iit out of the country, added to the fact that hundreds of small breedera nave been driven into ,,,,,,,. other phase ol farm production, bavi together lirougfal about ■ state approaching horse bank-, . , in horseflesh, and the 1 1 1 i -. ergo a pauperism quickest «.i to restore something like old conditions i- ;,, do awaj wiili the gelding allowance. It u eniv ■ few years ago, by the way. thai the Rrglish ■•" k« ciuh woke up p. the fact that under the conditions ■•! the Derby and St. Leger, aa I hen framed, geldings could and did lake part in thorn famous classics. An absurdity on the fact of :t that eeldiugs should he able to rim in a race which id all others is mean! to prove that the "improve incut" ot ih. breed is indeed a tangible thing and M.t a pretanse. Verj quickly, indeed, after they wok u". did the English turt authorities .ilt.r the in,,, honored conditions of the Derby, St. Leger and 4ither great contests and make n Impossible for geldings i" race in them. I am much mi-taken if our own Jockey Club does not also intervene in future and follou so good an example a- -■•! by lie leaders of ii. world in the production of tie- tboi uughhreO. With an Increase in entire horses then will lie a rapid Increase in the re-production of their -i,-. an. I ti.us will he carried •ut the title intent . i ie i -e racing. When Charles Kohler recently teal to Trance bis ; -tall;.... Uncle and a dozen broodmares to he located in that hospitable land, they were In charge i t E. I.. Burnett, i keen-witted horseman who had been lot man years in the employment of .lime- r,. llaggln and hence closely associated with the reteran John Mackey. Mr. Burnett ha- Just re lulled from hi- irio abroad and tells -•me Inten -t in. things about what in saw. He - no novice in •i land-, bj the way. Uncle and the mares . are now on .i -md known as the Haras de Saiisay. Province •■] I.. i Basse, about fortj Bve mil. - from Paris, adjoining Baron de Rothschilds stud farm. The ■ Vanke Invasion" caased tie French to - I -■ , high a price on the land as to prevent Mr. Kohlers agent from purchasing, s-i the horses are being boarded al a -. t pine per month. Burnett says be liiis no rery high opinion of the French horses as be I, a- -e.n them at other time-. ■,,ii hi tak CoIIb, Ballot, litz Herbert, . oiitinued ,.ii M-coiul pagakj SHOW ALARMING SHORTAGE. Continued from first page. Artful, or Masketht and easily make anv French horse look cheap. I do not like the wav they handle their stock. They dont give them "enough oat-door exercise — only about one hour a day. They and the broodmares are kept too fat. I think Suri-drhlge. the sire of Sunstar. the Derby winner a toe-bodied horse, but he has a poor pair of hind legs an 1 hock. Meddler, now twenty-two years old. looks like a two-year-old. Mr. Mackav lias set his fee at 11,000, which is the highest that I saw Msked tor any stallion advertised. Sundridges book however, is full for the next three vears. Vll the American stallions there are highly valued by their owners from a commercial standpoint, judging by the fee asked. Yankee is standing at $«t». lithel-berts fee is 6160, and Flint Rocks will be the «ame.s I think Mr. Kohler has s.-t a very cheap fee »hji for Uncle when you consider how good a horse be was at two years old and how highly Sam tUMretb regarded him." Burnett called at Hie stud farms of Messrs. Belmont. Mackav. Duryea. Kothschlld and Edmond lilane. lie saw these well known Americans at Unisons Laffltte and elsewhere: Ilcnrv M. Ziegler Eugene Leigh. Fred Burlew. Frank ONeill, Galen Brown, Tommy Murphy II. b. Duryeaa trainer in r ranee, Lno.li Wishard. Winnie OConnor, Milton Henry. Johnny Reiff and others, all of whom seem to be doing well. At Maisons I.athtie is the splendid training establishment of Frank Jay Gould, with J-red t aihouii as manager. Calhoaa is now tie sole proprietor of a highly remunerative billiard parlor and is on "easy street. •• He has not forgotten his former associates here. George Miller, who, or a period trained for Calhoun, sports a handsome fur coat seat him by Calhoun when he discharged an old training debt. -.4* .ye.y— r*g.t. Burnett saw at Lord Marcus ,7i " T. m""1 r*nB llu well-known American st: Hi., us Ballot and Colin, both iu fine health. .•mi Marker is on his way to Ireland to spend a f.w days at his old birthplace. The crossing of the channel between Dover and Calais was delayed Hie. day-. Bumetl aaj s that even on the Atlantic he never me I a rougher bit of water. This is what mm •Iwajs operate against the Derby chances of a i-tench c,.n. as it has on former occasions JOSEPH J. BURKE.
