CAUSE OF DETERIORATION 59 



in the Transvaal no man will ever know. Verily 

 are my sons who were there justified in considering 

 themselves lucky to have got through safely. 



The reason why worthless sires are largely used 

 in horse-breeding is mainly because of their cheap- 

 ness ; they are cheap because they are useless : their 

 cheapness comes because they are not of much 

 use. ' Bruni ' says in the Australasian (Septem- 

 ber 15, 1900) that palpably we are doing our best 

 to encourage sprinting, and we therefore do not 

 hesitate to breed from hereditary non- stayers, sire 

 and dams. 



' Faneargh,' in the Sydney Mail, April 26, 1902, 

 writes that the class of horse at present bred 

 is unsuited for army requirements, and that much 

 of this is due to the sorry specimens called thorough- 

 breds which travel the country at a very cheap fee, 

 which fact alone induces farmers and others to make 

 use of them rather than an infinitely better animal 

 at a slightly increased fee. Horses like Carbine, 

 Gang Forward, and Fisherman, don't travel. 



G. S. Singleton, in the Australasian, October 25, 

 1902, says that the craze for racing in Australia had 

 undoubtedly more to do with the degeneracy of our 

 saddle-horses than all other causes combined, and 

 that the long-limbed pampered weed, being no 

 longer fit for racing, is bought because of his pedi- 

 gree by some ignorant breeder who expects to 

 raise saddle-horses. In other words, they sell the 

 screw to the poor breeder, and then they laugh at 



