812 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



There are of course casualties and chances in all trades ; else 

 why is man gifted by Providence with energy, forethought, 

 and ('ecision ? The animal may turn out good-for-nothing. 

 He may also break his own neck, and his rider's too, in a 

 rabbit-hole! but such a catastrophe is, at least, improbable ; 

 and even should the venture never turn out eood enough for a 

 hunter, a strapping high-bred horse, sound, and in good con- 

 dition, will always bring a remunerative price as a charger or 

 carriage-horse. 



But we must give our word of advice to the farmer who 

 breeds and rides hira. iWrerhave two prices. If you honestly 

 believe your horse ia worth £250, let no consideration induce 

 you to soil him for £249 193. 6d. Above all, avoid that ridi- 

 culous and unworthy practice of selling for £300 and giving 

 £50 back. In horse-dealing, as in everything else, an honest 

 atraiiihtforward course, backed by reflection and common sense, 

 will invariably succeed in the long-run. And the chief cause, 

 which has of late years prevented gentlemen from buying their 

 hunters from farmers in their own neighbourhood, has been a 

 practice, which has gradually crept in amongst the latter, of 

 asking the squire a higher sum than will be accepted from the 

 dealer ; nay, in some cases, the sqiiire has actually bought the 

 same horse from the professional for less money than it would 

 have cost hin in the first instance from his own neighbour and 

 fellow-sportsman. " Honesty is the best policy," quoth the 

 Scotchman, who, as he said to himself, " had tried both." And 

 althongb there may be nothing positively dishonest in thus 

 asking one man a higher price than another for the same 

 article, it is scarcely a very frank proceeding, and tends little 

 to promote that confidence and good feeling which is the very 

 spirit of exchange and barter. 



All of our farmers and yeomen, who come out hunting, must 

 have remarked how instantaneously a likely-looking horse is 

 " snapped up," particularly in the grass oountries. A heavy 

 man might go out day after day with the Qu.orn or Pylchley 

 hounds, with his cheque-book in his pocket, and find, at the 

 end of a good many weeks, he had failed in supplying himself 

 with a stud of hunters. Horses he would be offered in plenty; 

 but of the real weight-carrying animal, that can go the pace 

 which he considers a fit mount in a burst from Shaukton Holt 

 or the Coplow, he would see but few specimens for sale. They 

 are bought-up by the large dealers long before they are shown 

 in the hunting-field ; and most of the best horses in Leicester- 



shire and Northamptonshire have found their way into those 

 counties from the north and west of England. This need not 

 he the case. If the farmer only knew his own interest, he has 

 the best of markets for his young liorses at his own door. If 

 he would pay a little more attention to the first laws of nature 

 in breeding, take a little more pains with education and rear- 

 ing, obtain the character of being a straightforward man, with 

 one price to all alike, he would fiud customers enough, and to 

 spare, every day he put on his boots and breeches to go out 

 with the hounds. 



The demand, we repeat, is extraordinary : the supply, at the 

 present time, totally inadequate. Not only do men of all agea 

 and daises and professions come regularly out hunting, but 

 the fair seic are promising day by day to beat the less enter- 

 prizing half of the species clear out of the field. During the 

 last season or two we have seen ladies riding not only better 

 (whatever they do, they contrive to do v:eU) but harder and 

 straighter than nine-tenths of the men who are out, going, in 

 fact, " in the first flight." And this is no child's play, as we 

 all know, when hounds are running hard over the shires. For 

 ourselves, we confess we shudder to witness their performances. 

 Beautifully as they do it, it is a perilous exhibition. To a 

 man, a fall is simply a ludicrous mishap — to a woman, a dan- 

 gerous accident. A lady who goes out hunting should ride 

 the most perfect animal in the world — a fine goer ; a temperate 

 and active fencer ; in short, a safe and perfect hunter ; and 

 then— she should never ride him over anything that can pos- 

 sibly risk a fall. But to carry a fair equestrian with and not 

 after hounds, such an animal is required as we can scarcely 

 hope to fiud till the winged favourite of the Muses makes 

 his appearance once more on earth ; and even he, if we are 

 to believe the poets, good as he was, gave Bellerophon a 

 cropper j 



In this commercial and enterprising country, demand is 

 pretty sure to be succeeded by supply ; and we hope in a very 

 few years to see a far greater number of first-class horses in the 

 hunting-field than at present ; but we need not insist that this 

 state of things can only be arrived at by the attention of far- 

 mers and breeders being more exclusively directed to the first 

 principles of generation and reproduction, and their conviction 

 that the same causes, which tend to improve all inferior descrip- 

 tions of stock, operate \ with as direct and perceptible an eflTect 

 on that noblest o( all animals— the horse. — Sporting Magazine. 



THE TRADE IN GUANO. 



Two important interests of the State — the agricultural 

 and the shipping — are in a distressed CDiidition just 

 now; each of which might be greatly benefited by a 

 free trade in guano ; and we perceive a movement is on 

 foot in some of the commercial ports, having in view 

 the accomplishment of this desirable object. Among 

 other bodies, the Belfa.st Chamber of Commerce has 

 just memorialized the Secretary of State, praying that 

 free trade in guano may be established. 



Tlie cheaper and more extended sujiply of guano is 

 a matter of great moment. The depreciation of all 

 agricultural produce, together with the high price of the 

 manure, cons'dcrably modified the consumplion last 

 year, compared with former years, and increased that 

 of bones and of artificial and less-expensive fertilizers. 

 The reduction in price from £1:3 10s. to .£'12 per ton, 

 made by tlie agents of the Tcruvian Government in the 



autumn, had the effect of lowering also, to some ex- 

 tent, the value of other descriptions. 



This reduction was probably the result of the oflicial 

 letter of Lord Malmcsbury, dated the 28th of July last, 

 to Senor de llivero, the Peruvian Minister in this 

 country, urging that a reduction of price was greatly 

 desired, and that it would benefit Peru, by causing an 

 increased consumption; although the Parliamenlary 

 paper recc ntly published on the subject only contains 

 this letter and Senor de Rivero's reply that he would 

 call the attention of the Lima Government thereto, and 

 communicate to Lord Mulmesbury such answer a« 

 might bo obtained. No oflicial reply seems to have 

 been condescended by the Peruvian Government ; or if 

 80, it does not appear in this correspondence. 



The guano trade has become of great and growing 

 importance to the agriculturifts of Great Britain, and 



