270 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



are found perfect in every particular but the most im- 

 portant one. 



The lecturer gave his opinion that the Chinese sheep 

 are now extinct in England, and must be re-imported. 

 But surely such a lover of agriculture as our Prince has 

 reserved some of the stock on his farms ; or they exist 

 in travelling menageries, if not in the Zoological 



Society ; or those at Lord Dacie's have been only dis- 

 persed, not altogether lost. 



I must postpone to my next my remarks as to those 

 Chinese plants and modes of culture that might be in- 

 troduced into our system of cultivation, 



Feb. 17. W. R. 



HOW TO IMPROVE THE BREED OF HORSES. 



If we are to bow to the invincible eloquence of 

 the Chancellor, and to accept his opinion as a fore- 

 gone conclusion, it may behove us to be at once 

 looking about us. There are certain commodities in 

 which Great Britain has still something of a 

 lead, and that the farmer, as' he chooses, may 

 have more or less to do with. Let us instance 

 at once our different breeds of stock. So long as we 

 breed these with due care and judgment, so sure may 

 we be of a good market for them. It is true there is a 

 certain degree of rivalry springing up from those who 

 go to beat us with our own weapons — when Ame- 

 rican horses win races at JVewmarket, and English 

 yeomen, as happened the other day, buy their Short- 

 horn bulls out of Transatlantic herds. But in the face 

 of this, the demand for our horses and cattle threatens 

 in no way to fall off. Only let them be as superior as 

 they have been, and a thousand guineas may be had 

 for a bull-calf, while the agents of Kings and Emperors 

 try their btst to out-general Mr. Quartermaine or Mr. 

 Collins for the first offer of a charger or a hunter. It 

 is only fair to add that the agriculturists themselves 

 have been rather looking up this kind of animal of 

 late. There is now scarcely a show ground, but has its 

 especially attractive class of thorough-bred horses. 

 These are good, bad, and indifferent, as a matter of 

 course. Weeds, screws, and peacocks try their luck 

 against something of a better stamp; for there are few 

 quarters but have a high-mettled one travelling 

 about, or stationed within handy reach. In fact, there 

 is nothing easier to get at. Few commodities embrace 

 so extraordinary a range of price. A sound, short- 

 legged, blood horse, with a pedigree, action, and sub- 

 stance to back him, will command almost any price 

 you may choose to ask for him; whereas, should the 

 village publican or farrier have the misfortune to lose 

 or the good fortune to sell his Young Eclipse 

 or local Highflyer, he may run up to Tattersall's 

 next Monday and buy another, as good or better, 

 for a twenty pound note. Indeed, people tell you that 

 the country is overrun with such cripples — that the 

 Englisli horse is terriby deteriorating — that good 

 hacks and hunters are more difficult to meet with than 

 ever — and that the old-fashioned race-horse, who could 

 carry twelve stone over a four-mile coui-se, is " a thing 

 that is not." So, most assuredly, thinks Lord 

 Redesdale, the chairman of the committees of the 

 House of Lords, an ex-master of foxhounds, a 

 thoriiugh sportsman, and an excellent country gen- 

 tleman. In his place in the Lords, he is recently 

 reported to have said: — "The ridiculously light 

 weiglits now carried.in some cases led to gambling 

 practices on the turf, and were, he believed, ex- 

 ceedingly prejudicial to the breed of horses. Atone 

 time Parliament imposed restrictions on the weights 

 allowed to be run at races ; and although the act had 

 been repealed, the evil now prevailed to such an extent 

 that although it might not be possible to remedy it alto- 

 gether, something ought to be done. Everybody, be 

 thought, would admit, that if a horse could not carry 



seven stonehe could be of no use." And then his Lordship 

 went on to ask the first reading of a Bill — that was 

 read accordingly — and of which this is the chief 

 clause : — " From and after the first day of January one 

 thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, no person or 

 persons whatsoever shall enter, start, or run any horse, 

 colt, mare, filly, or gelding for any plate, prize, or sum 

 of money, or other thing, unless such horse, colt, mare, 

 filly, or gelding shall carry seven stone weight or more, 

 computing fourteen pounds to each stone weight ; and 

 if any person or persons shall enter, start, or run any 

 horse, colt, mare, filly, or gelding for any plate, prize, 

 or sum of money, or any other thing, carrying less 

 than the weight hereinbefore directed to be carried, 

 such horse, colt, mare, filly, or gelding, or the value 

 thereof, shall be forfeited, and the person or persons so 

 entering, starting, or running the same shall forfeit tho 

 sum of two hundred pounds." 



This is strong enough certainly, and as clearly well- 

 intended. If the Bill should ever pass, it will almost 

 revolutionize the present practice of the Turf, where 

 pigmy feathers get most of the riding, and light handi- 

 caps are the attractions of a meeting. Horseflesh, 

 however, is proverbially one of those open questions 

 upon which everybody is sure to have an opinion. Our 

 own is that the riding or race-horse has not deteriorated, 

 but that the fault is rather with our method of treating 

 him. In former times the four-miles King's Plate 

 horse never appeared till his strength was matured. 

 " Eclipse," himself, was never trained until he was 

 five years old. Whereas, now an animal is put into 

 work almost from the time he is weaned. Yearling 

 stakes are coming into vogue, and a good colt's great 

 value frequently centres in his second year's perform- 

 ances. One of the favourites for the Derby of this 

 year — Mr. Merry's Thormanby — began racing last year 

 as a two-year-old in March, and continued running 

 all through the season, up to the very end of October. 

 He started no less than fourteen times, of which he 

 won nine. Now it is just possible that by the end of 

 another year or so this colt may " crack." A leg may 

 go, or he may turn roarer, or something or other 

 may happen, so that the world may be able to say 

 " There is another of those die-away castoffs, that 

 could not carry his ten stone over the Beacon 

 at five or six years old, like Hambletonian and 

 Black Diamond," and so on. Whereas, Thormanby 

 had done more by the time he had got through his 

 two-year-old trials than these famous horses ever 

 did in a lifetime. Moreover, in all these races, he but 

 once carried less than 8st. 71b., and far more fre- 

 quently five or six pounds more. If Lord Redesdale 

 really means to correct the handicap rage by in- 

 sisting on heavy weights, let him go on with his bill 

 as it is. But if he wants to do far more than this — to 

 improve, or, as his lordship might word it, to re- 

 establish our breed of horses — he must go further. He 

 must do away with the system by which young horses 

 are far too severely tried before they are fit for their 

 work. So far from being deteriorated, we really be- 



