124 State Board of Agrioultuue, &c. 



horses have stood high in market ; why the blood, when 

 crossed upon other races or breeds, has produced such great 

 improvements; the iiitiuence it has and is exerting upon the 

 trotting horses of the country ; why tlieir reputation wa s 

 not kept up to the highest standard ; show that it was not 

 for want of excellence in the liorses, but from the clamor 

 of parties interested in other horses in ]>art, but more to 

 the fact that Yermonters have not jiroperly appreciated the 

 situation, and the excellence of their own horses ; and then 

 make some enquiries about the best course to improve the 

 horses of Vermont, make their breeding most profitable, 

 and their reputation, as it once was, better than any others. 

 It is evident, in the beginning, that the Vermont farmer 

 cannot have a variety of horses, each adapted to some spe- 

 cial use or work, and on very few farms of the State can 

 horse breeding and raising be made a special, separate and 

 paying interest. The average Vermont farmer must make 

 his horse raising and interest dependant upon other 

 branches of his farming, and upon his own use and work. 

 He can seldom keep one team for driving on the road, and 

 another for his plowing and other heavy work on, and for 

 the farm. His wants emphatically demand the horse of all 

 work, as he will have all kinds of work to perform. The 

 farms in most sections are hillj, and the roads through 

 those sections are, for the most part, not very level, to say 

 the least ; the soil is constantly changing, and often quite 

 full of stones ; therefore, the horse that constantly travels 

 over such roads should possess many good qualities besides 

 an easy, rapid road gait. This constant, continued shifting 

 of strains and positions, as the travel is up or down hill, as 



