BEST AGE TO BREED FROM. 145 
the horse which has displayed either the one or the other. I believe that 
a Government inspection of all horses and mares used for breeding pur- 
poses would be a great national good; and I look forward to its establish- 
ment, at no distant time, as the only probable means of insuring greater 
soundness in our breeds of horses. I would not have the lberty of the 
subject interfered with. Let every man breed what he likes, but I would 
not let him foist the produce on the public as sound, when they are 
almost sure to go amiss as soon as they are worked. Ships must now all 
be registered at Lloyd’s, in the classes to which they are entitled by their 
condition ; and horses, as well as mares, should be registered in the same 
way, according to the opinion which the Government inspector may form 
as to their health and the probability of getting or producing sound and 
useful foals. The purchaser would call for the registration-mark, when he 
asked for the pedigree of the horse he was about to buy; and if it was not 
a favourable one, he would, of course, be placed upon his guard. If this 
plan could be carried out in practice, as well as it looks on paper, much 
good might be done, I am assured; but we all know that inspectors are 
but mortals, and that they are liable to be biassed in more ways than one. 
Still, I believe that the evil is becoming so glaring, that something must 
soon be done; and I see no other mode so likely as this to be advan- 
tageous to the interests of the purchaser and user of the horse. 
BEST AGE TO BREED FROM. 
THE GENERAL OPINION throughout England is, that one or other of the 
parents should be of mature age; and that if a very young mare is chosen, 
the horse should not be less than eight, ten, or twelve years old. If both 
are very young, or very old, the produce is generally small and weakly ; 
but by adopting the plan above-mentioned, the services of young and old 
may be fully utilized. A great many of our very best performers on the 
turf have been got by old stallions ; as, for instance, Whisker, son of 
Waxy, in his twenty-second year; Emilius, son of Orville, in his twen- 
tieth ; Voltigeur and Newminster, whose sires were respectively twenty- 
one and seventeen; Blink Bonny, who was got by Melbourne, in his 
twentieth year; and wila Dayrell, by Ion, when seventeen years old. To 
these may be added, Gemma di Vergy, Lifeboat, and Gunboat, three cele- 
brated sons of Sir Hercules, and all got by him after he was twenty years 
old—the last named when he was twenty-five years of age. So, also, 
many were out of old mares; including Priam, whose dam was twenty 
when she dropped him; Crucifix, the daughter of Octaviana, when twenty- 
two years old ; Lottery, out of Mandane, in her twentieth year; and Bru- 
tandorf, produced by the same mare when she was twenty-two. From 
these instances, the breeder may conclude that age is no bar to success, if 
matched with youth on the other side; but the instances of success in 
breeding from two aged parents are rare indeed. It is next to be ascer- 
tained what is the earliest age at which this animal can be relied on for 
breeding ; and here, again, example is better than theory. The most 
remarkable instance of moderate success in adopting this plan is in that of 
The Ugly Buck, whose dam, Monstrosity, was put to Venison when only 
a two-year-old. The horse, also, was not more than seven, and the dam of 
Monstrosity bred her in her fourth year. But though Ugly Back pro- 
mised well as a two-year-old, he failed in his subsequent career, and his 
example is not, therefore, to be considered as at all conclusive. Still, his 
is a most extraordinary instance, and as such it should not be lost sight of 
L 
