TO04 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 
which the trotter is intelligently bred, his general usefulness, and 
cognate aspects of the subject. 
The first recorded trotting performance in America was that of 
Yankee, at Harlem, N. Y., July 6, 1806. The time of the mile was 
2:59, but the track was nota full mile. At Philadelphia, August, 
1810, a ‘‘Boston horse” trotted the mile to harness in 2:483, but the 
next best performance I find is in 1818, and then the time is only 3:00. 
To estimate the progress in speed made by the trotter in consequence 
of his being bred for his special purpose we must approximate his 
extreme speed at the beginning of the founding of the breed. If 
we take for granted that Yankee could trot in 3:00 in 1806, in con- 
trast with the 2:08% of Maud S in 1885, we have a difference of 
514 seconds in seventy-nine years. But it would be erroneous to 
conclude that the extreme speed capacity of the trotter of to-day is 
over 50 seconds to the mile faster than that of the trotter of eighty 
years ago. improved tracks, appliances, and methods have accom- 
plished much. If we could approximate just now much of the im- 
provement in speed is due to the improved tracks, appliances, and 
methods, we could then give to improved blood its share of credit. 
Guarding, then, against the error of giving all the honor to supe- 
riority of blood, let us note step by step the improvement in the 
extreme speed of the trotter. 
From the performances above noted, I think it fair to approx- 
imate the extreme speed of the trotter previous to 1820 at 2:50 to the 
mile, in harness. HWrom that date recorded performances are plenti- 
ful and furnish us a safe guide. In 1829 Topgallant went 3 miles in 
8:11, and this sustained speed at the rate of 2:433 is certainly better 
than 1 mile in 2:40. In 1834 the black gelding Edwin Forrest went 
a mile under the saddle in 2:313; in 1839 Drover paced in 2:28. In 
1844 Lady Suffolk trotted under saddle in 2:262; in the same year 
Unknown paced to wagon in 2:23. In the next decade Flora Tem- 
ple trotted in 2:19?, and in the same decade the marvelous pacing 
mare Pocahontas went the mile to wagon in 2:173. The stars of the 
following decade were Dexter, 2:172, and Lady Thorn, 2:187. Inthe 
next period Goldsmith Maid, 2:14; Hopeful, 2:14; Rarus, 2:132; and 
Lula, 2:143, represented the limits of trotting speed. St. Julien 
trotted in 2:12% in 1879, but reached his limit, 2:11; the following 
year. In 1884 Jay-Eye-See astonished the world by trotting the 
mile in 2:10, but the next year Maud S%., by trotting in 2:08%, set a 
mark of speed in harness not since approached. The pacer Johnston, 
by doing the same task in 2:065, demonstrated that the lateral gait 
is still the fastest. 
But we have been dealing in the performances of phenomenal ani- 
mals. I will now, by taking the average of the five fastest perform- 
ances for each decade since 1820, show what may fairly be called the 
extreme speed of the trotting horse and his gradual gain in speed 
since the beginning of fast trotting: 
Average extreme speed: 
ASAE DSBs eke eee eRe Chels MS whe IMIS SNe cor bod teatro el ee Rais eine ene aaa 2:42 
TESST IN Frayed Nye AC NRA MOAI ar TAI teh ey VA Oa Reef a ey Rl ae PEERS ee rere, 5 3 2:354 
TSAO US Oh ee erste aaneetskelo coches lat caste epehev state verousts. cet ole terse teeta) cleie oie theese eae nen 2:284 
THS5SO GO TOGO es he eee tere ene Ema oaeites Cha cuSaMere UTHOCe’ 2° Gitats aI aE Con i eRe oe gee 2:25 
TEGO FO ACTO oF eR Ree HN ete ites Gio saya e yc skeen et beens Metals Relat emt 2:182 
ASO GOA SSO es SET AAS Riek wehtapite ec aiche’ ctateea balay Sis ere iene eee Bie e oloeha iene era mee 2:14 
ASSO FOSS eee wet chads Std Erect ors ME ote lo & Pavevaite Piola ar weet Aas on) ore eee 27114 
The question as to what rate of speed the trotter will ultimately 
attain has been much discussed, and some have assumed to fix the 
