22 THE ARAB THE HORSE OF THE FUTURE 



laide daily (August i8, 1902), says that the 

 deliberate opinion of an officer of the i ith Hussars, 

 expressed some months ago, was that never before 

 had such a collection of inferior horses been gathered 

 together. His opinion was supported with marked 

 emphasis by Lieutenant Sydney Galvayne in his 

 book on * War-Horses, Present and Future; or, 

 Remount Life in South Africa,' who called the 

 Australian drafts ' a most wretched lot.' 



The Australian Stud -Book, vol. vi., has a list 

 of Colonial-bred stallions, in respect of which it 

 observes : ' Many stallions under this heading are 

 not worthy of entry, but as they have been bred 

 from they are included.' This observation is entitled 

 to special weight, considering where it appears, and 

 considering that it is, as it were, a sidelight amount- 

 ing to an unintended testimony of deterioration. 

 The writer did not want to ' quarrel with his bread- 

 and-butter,' so did not give names. That he made 

 the statement at all in such a book is proof that he 

 is a conscientious gentleman. I do not complain 

 that he did not give names ; but one scabby sheep 

 infects the whole flock, and fifty clean rams cannot 

 get rid of it. Who can say to what extent these 

 creatures ' not worthy of entry ' have poisoned the 

 horse - blood in Australia ? There is prepotent 

 influence in heredity, but to be useful it must be 

 wisely directed. Mr. Robert Bruce, of the Irish 

 Agricultural Department, warns breeders that 

 pedigree ill applied is harmful and dangerous. He 



