70 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



to enter upon any very arduous service, but merely to let you 

 know that I am not delinquent in duty. I thank you for your 

 cordial approval of my taking the chair. 



I have now the unfeigned pleasure of introducing to you, 

 as the orator of this occasion, the Rev. Wm. II. H. Murray, 

 — a gentleman "who is widely known, not only fur his zeal 

 and energy in the culture of the soul, but for his interest in 

 the development and improvement of agriculture, upon which 

 the whole community must depend. 



OX THE BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT OF HORSES. 



BT REV. WM. n. n. MURRAY. 



The subject which you have advertised as the one to be 

 discussed by me at this time, is the " Breeding and Manage- 

 ment of Horses." Of the management of the horse, I have 

 not the time, neither have I the inclination to-day, to speak ; 

 and I presume that among those who are here, there could 

 barely be found five who would agree touching what is the 

 best fashion of management : as every man has his own idea, 

 and every man who owns a horse thinks his own idea is better 

 than his neighbor's, touching the question of his management. 

 I have found no greater divergence of opinion in reference to 

 horse matters, than just this question : How should a colt be 

 manased? In reference to his education, in reference to the 

 discipline of his powers, in reference to his diet, in reference 

 even to the surroundings of his stables, and how he should be 

 managed when driven in those great contests of speed which 

 decide the quality in him, I find few men to agree. So we 

 will lay that aside. I have thought that, in reference to the 

 matter of breeding, there might be some young men here, 

 and if not here, there would be young men in the country 

 before whom this report, when published, — as I understand 

 it will be, — will be laid, who would be interested in knowing 

 what a young man who has been actively engaged in breeding, 

 and who has made his studies touching the literature of the 

 horse tend in that direction, had settled upon in respect to 

 two or three of the dozen points involved in the general 

 problem. 



