514 



• 

 extinct in the country. The progeny of these mares, crossed with pure- 

 blood stallions, gave the Prussian cavalry a great efficiency in the late 

 Franco-German war. While the British government haggled about £40 

 per head for artillery horses, the French government got the choice of 

 the market at £45 and £50 i^er head. During 1872 14,000 brood mares 

 were exported to France, every one of which should have been retained 

 in the country. The honorable gentleman proposed that the govern- 

 ment should keep a full number of first-class stallions in different parts 

 of the country, and allow them to serve good mares at as low prices as 

 would be consistent with the expense incurred. 



Mr. Jacob Smith, chairman ot the Boroughbridge Agricultural Asso- 

 ciation, differed from the above conclusions of Sir Charles Legard in sev- 

 eral points. He did not think that there was any scarcity, for instance, 

 of thoroughbred horses. Hunters of high character had increased in 

 value, but were accessible to those who were willing and able to pay 

 the market price. The scarcity was greatest among harness-horses, 

 especially on farms. The select parliamentary committee had attributed 

 this scarcity first to exportation of mares, but this export had nearly 

 ceased. Secondly, the attention of farmers was distracted from horse- 

 breeding by the superior profits of cattle and sheep, assuming that there 

 was some profit in horse-breeding, which the speaker doubted. He did 

 not believe that one in twenty of English horse-raisers could, upon an 

 intelligent presentation of expenses and values, show any appreciable 

 margin of profit upon a four-year-old horse, while many were con- 

 scious of serious loss. The third reason urged by the committee for 

 the decline in horses — that the rapid growth of the population in num- 

 bers and wealth, by enlarging the demand, iiroduced a relative if not 

 an absolute scarcity — he thought did not apply to carriage-horses. The 

 greatest demand now is for a class of animals formerly almost unsala- 

 ble, ride and drive horses, and horses between that class and cart-horses. 

 Agricultural horses had increased most in value, and had fluctuated 

 most in price. The supply of the latter is undoubtedly increasing. 

 Nearly every farmer now has cart-mares, and will breed from them at 

 current prices. Though not disposed to attack racing, he could not help 

 alluding to the large number of fine mares kept for sport which should 

 be put to breeding. The high prices of horses was producing a reaction. 

 The number of mares kept unbroken for breeding purposes in England 

 was 268,177 in 1874, an increase of 25,695 over 1873. Every county in 

 England and Wales showed an increase. The English farmer would not 

 be slow to find a margin of profit in horses as well as in sheep and 

 cattle. 



British max,t consumption. — During the year ending with Septem- 

 ber, 1874, the common brewers of the United Kingdom consumed 

 47,219,780 bushels of malt, an yicrease of 1,685,804 over the preceding 

 year. The increase was nearly all in England alone, Scotland showing 

 a decrease and Ireland only 39,000 bushels more than in 1873. The 

 consumption of other parties than the common brewers, such as victual- 

 ers, licensed retailers, &c., brewing their own beer, amounted to 

 10,843,493 bushels, a decrease of 868,208 bushels. 



Deep or SHAr,LOW wheat culture. — Mr. Mechi has been in the 

 habit of cultivating wheat after mangel, kohl-rabi, cabbage, and turnips. 

 For the preliminary crop he subsoils deeply and manures heavily, but 

 for the subsequent wheat-crop he breaks the ground only with a single 

 plowing with one pair of horses. He iinds that deep culture just before 

 wheat-sowing enlarges the straw product at the expense of the grain. 



