144 Journal of Agriculture. [8 March, 1907. 



particulars regarding any animals you see which are suitable for purchase 

 subsequently. 



'■ On corrfing to a decision on the points mentioned in the previous 

 paragraph, you are requested to advise me by cable of vour decision and 



recommendation. ' ' 



Mr. W"ood's Beport, 



On my arrival in England on the 13th June, 1906, I at once called upon 

 the Agent-General, the Hon. J. W. Taverner, who had been made 

 ac(]uainted with the object of mv mission, and wjio at once \-olunteered to 

 assist me in any direction possible. 



As some of the leading horse shows of Britain, such as the Royal 

 Horse Show^ at Richmond and the Roval Agricultural S,how at Derby, 

 were being held, I attended them in order to inspect and obtain any infor- 

 mation concerning the class of horses likely to be secured to suit the State's 

 requirements. I was disappointed to find that there was not a class pro- 

 vided on the prize list at either of these respective shows for the Welsh 

 cob. 14 hands or over, and I therefore decided to at once inspect the 

 Welsh cob studs of England and Wales. I accordingly sought out and 

 visited every Welsh cob stud and farm which I could hear of where ponies 

 were likely to be obtained. Amongst those visited were the studs of John 

 Jones, of Denarth Hall, Colwyn Hay. where I inspected some 70 ponies 

 (stallions and mares) ; Jones, of Manoravin Stud Farm, Llanfvllin, with 40 

 to 50 ponies ; John Dugdale, Llenvn Stud Farm, Llanfyllin, with 30 ponies ; 

 J. H. Day's celebrated Hacknev and Ponv Stud, Crewe, and I regret to 

 state that after inspecting all the stud farms, it appeared to me that the 

 original type of Welsh pony known to or had in mind by the breeders of 

 this State, had, to a great extent, disappeared. The practical loss of the 

 strongly-built, stout-boned, nuggety type of Welsh cob, such as it was 

 desired to procure, is largely due, I think, to the attempt made in recent 

 years to breed a more showy and stylish animal by the use of hackney 

 stallions. In the three leading Welsh cob studs I was surprised to find 

 that the stallion at the head of the stud was in every case a pure-bred 

 hackney horse or ponv. These are being mated to pony mares of the 

 Welsh breed from 12.3 to 13.3 hands high. 



The only true Wei si 1 cob stallion of the old type seen by me in one of the 

 leading Welsh cob studs was 21 years of age. though occasionally while 

 travelling through the countrv I met with a Welsh pony of the original 

 type, which, on inspection, would be found to be upwards of 20 yeai"s 

 old. I could not help being struck with the pity of it all — the sacrifice 

 of the substance, strength, and hardiness of the old sorts for what I feel 

 sure is merely a passing craze — for, provided that animals of this type, 

 about 4 or 5 \ears of age, could now be secured, thev would be of great 

 value to any countrv. and could scarcely fail to produce a serviceable and 

 saleable animal when mated with almost any class of mares. The more 

 thoughtful of the Welsh breeders with whom I discussed the subject are 

 in agreement that the infusion of hackney blood will turn out to be a re- 

 grettable mistake, but they plead the necessity of catering for the present 

 demand, however ephemeral it may be. The breed seems to have been 

 allowed to almost pass away, too, without the breeders knowing of it; but 

 it may be that the attention which was directed to the subject by my visit 

 and my failure to get what this Government wanted will result in success- 

 ful efforts at resuscitation of the breed, for on realizing the position of 



