SEGMENT: FARM BUSINESS & TRANSPORTATION
Robert A. Taylor>UIS Collection T-Z>UIS Collection T-Z, Segment 1
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- TRANSPORTATION
- Kept 1-2 riding horses at all times, they were not purebred. Bought surrey from Withey Brothers in Springfield, which was supposed to be very good, but the springs were too hard. Now the surrey is in the shed but it is not usable. Went to Springfield for the fair via train from Virginia. Train left at 4-5
- FARM BUSINESS
- Horses made the most money on a farm in 1900. Buyers would come to the farm. Recalls one man who bought a grey horse from him for $230, the most he ever got for one horse. Left horses in the livery stable in Virginia for a dollar per night. Sometimes sold horses to a trader who ran the livery stable in Chandlerville. Percherons are large and always black. Broke own colts by hitching them up and driving them. Colts often ran off. Used straight bits. Curved bits were for riding horses. Tells a story about losing control of horses on a gang plow. Broke horses got more money when sold. Good horses sold for $400, sold two 2-year-olds for $375. Fed horses threshed oats and timothy hay grown on the farm, not much straw. Some people hauled grain with 4 oxen on a wagon. Sometimes other farmers would buy grain from their farm on their way to town.
