92 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



well-actioned, well-bred horse, let the scrub have the benefit 

 of that point, but do not let him have a society's recommen- 

 dation to breeders as the best horse " for the general purposes " 

 of the year. 



The Chairjian. I think you will all acknowledge that 

 the subject has been presented in a very masterly and happy 

 manner ; and it is now open for discussion. 



Col. HtJjMPHKEY of Concord, N.H. The subject presented 

 before us for discussion is the horse. I indorse every word 

 the gentleman says. I have had some experience in the 

 matter, and I think I know something about the subjects 

 on which he has spoken. I fully indorse his remarks upon 

 the matter of racing-horses. If there is any curse in the 

 world to young men and farmers, it is that of breeding a 

 trotting-horse fo^the track. When I speak at our meetings 

 upon the subject of the horse, I always take the ground 

 that he takes. I consider it one of the most demoralizing 

 things for a young farmer to get the idea into his head of 

 breeding a horse for the track. But the gentleman has pre- 

 sented that subject so fully, that there is no occasion for 

 my going into it. I will, however, state a few facts in 

 regard to the amount of money that is spent in raising and 

 training track-horses; and we all know that there is not 

 one in a hundred of these horses that proves a success. I 

 have taken a little pains to investigate the matter ; and, if 

 my memory serves me right, there were, last spring, two 

 hundred and twenty-five horses at the training-stables in 

 New England, not to mention the green horses and colts. 

 Every gentleman who has a promising colt expects to get a 

 horse that will trot in 2.20 : 2.30 will not answer the purpose. 

 When I was young, 2.40 was considered great speed. We 

 all know that a very large number of the owners of these 

 colts must be disappointed ; and, as it has been well said 

 here, the expense of training a horse is enormous. Of course, 

 out of those two hundred and twenty-five horses, there will 

 be more than two hundred that will disappoint the expecta- 

 tions of their owners, and they will fail to get a return for 

 the money expended. The cost of training a horse one year 

 will eat up his value, and more than that. Therefore I am 

 opposed to the breeding of horses for the track. Then, in 

 connection with that, is the gambling that is carried on. I 



