Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 66, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 March 1910 — SPENDS MILLIONS ON HORSES. [ARTICLE]

SPENDS MILLIONS ON HORSES.

Germany Lead 4 "World In Tm daWbtion—Chiefly Draught Horses. From some statistics published recently by M. Ruan, the German minister of agriculture, the land of the kaiser leads the world in the matter of importing horses. In case of war the Germans are bound that they will be in possession of a liberal supply of horses. For the last three years there has been a slight decrease, the cause being that home breeders are doing well. In 1909 Germany imported 119,000 horses -at a cost of $20,000,000. Most of the Imports were made for draught purposes; light draught horses numbered 43,000 and were of the value of $4,500,000. The heavy draught horses numbered 48,500 and were of the value of $10,000,000. Supplies of the former class were drawn principally from Russia, which sent 30,225 head; then came the Netherlands, with 9,024, Austria and Hungary accounted for 2,525, Denmark for 467, and the rest were drawn from France and Belgium. The heaviest of the draught horses were mainly supplied from Belgium, 20,000 being Imported at an average price of $3lO. Denmark delivered 16,309, France 5,847, Austria and Hungary 3,369, Russia 2.051, the Netherlands 64 and England only 125. In 1908 Germany Imported 267 half-bred sires at an average cost of $1,020, most of them being from Belgium. Saddle horses are put down as numbering 6,562, of which Austria supplied 2,946, against 2,227 from England. These latter figures Indude Tha thoroughbreds. The favorite market for cheap horses for Germany has been Russia, which country supplied 16,888 at an average cost of $75.