90 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



such piece of animal machinery as was made up by the old 

 "Messenger" horse of Maine, lying at the foundation as he 

 does of a certain power on the road and on the track that has 

 not yet been excelled. Those two families of horses, the 

 "Justin Morgan" and the "Messenger," really lie at the foun- 

 dation of our best breeds here. 



Now, there is another strain of blood which comes in to 

 make up what I call the perfect American horse, which some 

 of you may be surprised at. Everybody, you are aware, 

 looks upon a French horse with great contempt. With most 

 of us on the road, a French horse is very much like what 

 Csesar says of the Gauls, who were the Frenchmen of his day, 

 that they began a fight more than men, and ended it weaker 

 than women ; and so, as I. say, we all dislike a French horse. 

 But here is a remarkable fact. Wherever "Justin Morgan," 

 with his tied-up gait, succeeded in getting a trotter, he had 

 a mare with French blood for the dam ; and in that way 

 secured that free action, that open gait, that measured stride, 

 that enabled him to do his work. Now, the imported "Mes- 

 senger" horse was used chiefly for breeding purposes in the 

 northern latitudes of the United States. The "Mambrino" 

 horse went South, and he, on the southern mares, got run- 

 ners ; the "Messenger" horse, that remained North, and 

 mingled his blood with the French brood-mares, got trotters ; 

 and that is the difl"erence. And wherever you find a strain of 

 blood that has speed in it, you will find there a French infu- 

 sion. That is where this great " Unknown," that you hear so 

 much about, comes from. If you take the pedigree of the 

 best trotting horses, you will find it, "sire, so-and-so; dam, 

 unknown ; " and that unknown dam has a little infusion of 

 that French blood in her, that sends stock of the trotting 

 horse along when he breeds upon her. It is a most curious 

 and remarkable fact. The famous trotting horse, "Pilot," 

 one of the most tremendous horses ever raised in Kentucky, 

 was out of a French mare; "Cassius M. Clay's" dam was a 

 French mare. In that way, and that way alone, can you 

 account for the roundness of "Cassius Clay's" ankles, for that 

 roughness of his legs, for that peculiar thickness of his jowls. 

 These peculiarities are due to his French dam, from whom the 

 whole family derived their speed ; and from whom, also, I am 



