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I • I 1 • 1 • 1 IMPROVING HORSE PRODUCT OF CUBA i President Menocal and Other Officials of Republic s to Encourage Thoroughbred Breeding. Havana. Cuba. May 1. — The improvement of the I horse product of Cuba is engaging the serious ,-,t tention of President Menocal and General Sainhez-Agramonte. - his minister of agriculture, under whose lire,! siqiervision the work will be undertaken and I it is eiected within a short period that ■ plan will lie fnrmnlared along lines which have made for r slices-, elsewhere will lie in operation. While a number of stallions of Saddle and Mor Ban blood have lieen at the disposal of breeders of f the republic free of chatge for vears. it is onlv recently that the subject of horse breeding has i».cii 1 seriously considered by the Cuban authorities, whose I supply of cavalry remount and ixdice horses have * been purchased in the Turfed States to the number r •if from three t„ five thousand annually. Finding the supply diminishing due to tire drain of the war r and sensing the need of a better horse type, the president and his advisers resolved to breed their r •Bra charger and at the same time raise enough 1 animals of the army type to have some to sell to friendly nations. The interest of President Menocal was stimulated 1 through the gift of three Arabians— a sire and two . mares -from King Alfonso of Spain. He commis-1 sioned an ageni to purchase thoroughbred mares luring the dosing davs of the meeting of the Cuba-American Jockey Club and there are now at El 1 Chieo, his beautiful country home within a few-miles of this city, thirty-four mares by such sires - as Trnp Bock. Transvaal. Dick Welles. Peep oDav. F.nglish I_id. Meeli, k. Solitaire. Martinet and Water iKiy. with all of which he is delighted. It was bis * original intention to mate all these mares with the • rabian sire, which is well under fifteen hands, nit when his attention was called to the plan bv ■ which France bad used infusions of Arabian and I Barb blood to advantage, he determined to follow lines of proven effectiveness and the largest native • »r Creolia mares, as they are termed, will furnish 1 the bulk of the mates for the horse of the desert •ather than the clean-bred matrons which received I their infusion of Arabian blood two centuries since. The best of the thoroughbred mares now at El Chieo will probably Me bred to Solomon, by All Gold, a son of Persimmon — Stamina, by Nasturtium — Endurance, by Right, by Insi ector B.. whiie still others may go to Duqnesne. by Broomstick— scot Belle. Solomon is the property of the Cuban -American Jockey Club and his services have been offered by President Brown of that organization, who was moved to buv the horse, which is a product of Harry Payne Whitneys Brookdale Stud, by the large number of thoroughbred mares that lave lieen secured by prominent Cubans the past two vears. Duquesnc is located at Aguacnte, while Sir Wellons. another good horse, is in the stud near Matanzas. The average native mare which is of Andalusia lineage has through in breeding deteriorated in size. The bulk of them have beautiful front, but are cow hocked and deficient in the quarters. The Morgan and Saddler have helped in this res]iect wher-•ver used, and it is thought that" the Arabian will hi his part equally well. It has been suggested to take the iM-st of the mares from such matings and •ross them with thoroughbred sires of lion.- and inality ami in a short space of time a type that will 1m- a credit to the country will be evolved. RECOGNIZES IMPORTANCE OF THE HORSE. Seated on the broad veranda of the typical Cuban house at El Chieo a few days ago President Menocal said: "The horse has always played a prominent part in the development of any nation. His usefulness in peace or war is unquestioned. He will never be superseded i,y machinery, but shall endure to he the aid and solace of mankind. Cavalry lias saved the day for the allies on many of the battlefields if Fran.-e. The horse of quality is quite as esentinl is any of the other paraphernalia of war and the improvement of the breed is worthy of the attention of every nation." These sentiments were echoed by General Sanchez-Agramonte. who was present when they were uttered. "It is my aim," he said, "to teach our people that the horse can in a large measure replace the mule, which, Ising non -productive, is a total loss when disabled. We shall conduct some •xperiments with a Pen-heron of medium size and »y judicious crossing with the thoroughbred hope to •volve a quick-walking typo of work animal whicn will be as great an improvement on the ox as the tractor is over the old-fashioned plow. We have •ontracted for a hundred tractors, by the way. with which demonstrations will Is- given in various parts .if tlie island, and those who wish to use them may make satisfactory terms fur payment when the crop is harvested. Our horse policy will lie exploited in the same fashion as we now employ to disseminate knowledge concerning seeds, swine, cattle and isnil-try. conventions lieing called at centers, where ex-[icrts from our station at Santiago de los Vegas will give lectures and demonstrate the type fnim individual specimens, which are quickly "conveyed by truck over our good roads. "This year we shall have twenty-two sires at the various locations." said the general in conclusion, "and next year the number will lie greatly augmented through the acquisition , of some h.irses of blood. I understand that tlie Cuban-American Jockey Club management lias announced its willingness to donate a number which have been secured through the operation of the elimination plan during the final month of the meeting at Oriental Park. Others will lie acquired by purchase until we have a thoroughly representative collection. A blending of our native stock and those of the saddle horse ami Morgan should furnish a foundation on which to establish a horse family second to none."
