232 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Jan., 



There was little horse-racing in early times in the northern 

 colonies. The colonists who settled along the coast from Delaware 

 Bay to the Bay of Fundy were largely religious enthusiasts, who 

 had little sympathy with this sport. In the Old World they 

 had mostly belonged to the middle class of society, the producing 

 class, the thrifty class. In the minds of English Puritan, French 

 Huguenot, Dutch Walloon, and Scotch Presbyterian alike, horse- 

 racing was associated with aristocratic privileges and unthrifty 

 ways, if not with the worse objection of immorality. It was 

 among this stock that the love of trotting began. The trotter 

 could never have originated south of Mason and Dixon's line, 

 where horse-racing was more popular, nor indeed in any country 

 where horse-racing was a fashionable sport with the better class of 

 society. The taste had to arise where running was under a cloud. 



After the Eevoiutionary War, during the last years of the last 

 century and the first years of this, a -considerable number of 

 English thoroughbreds were imported, both for running and for 

 improving the horse stock of the country by crossing. Horse- 

 racing rapidly grew in favor, particularly in the Middle States, aa 

 we had an increasing number of men who could afford to indulge 

 in the luxury. 



But old prej udices remained, a strong reaction took place, and 

 >• the sentiment against horse-racing became so powerful that most, 

 if not all, of the Northern States passed stringent laws against it, 

 with heavy penalties of fines or imprisonment. As an illustration 

 of the sweeping prohibition attempted, I wiU quote from the laws 

 passed in Pennsylvania about 1820, which not only forbade horse- 

 racing itself, but also forbade even to "print, or cause to be 

 printed, set up, or cause to be set up, any advertisement mention- 

 ing the time and place for the running, pacing, or trotting of any 

 horses, mares, or geldings, or shall knowingly suffer any adver- 

 tisement, as aforesaid, to be set up in or upon his or her or their 

 dwelling-house," etc., etc. A law similar in character existed on 

 the statute books of this State until three years ago, when it was 

 repealed. The effect of these laws was to discourage the importa- 

 tion of thoroughbreds, and Frank Forester states that, as a con- 

 sequence, there were fewer in the country in 1850 than in 1820. 



There was some racing in most of the States (less in Connecticut, 

 and consequently her horse interests declined) in spite of hostile 

 laws, but the sport was under a cloud, and trotting apparently 



