182 EUROPEAN AGRICULTURE. 



a close box or stall, with a short halter, where he cannot stretch 

 himself, nor lie down but in a constrained position. 



Nothing, indeed, is more remarkable throughout England, as 

 far as my observation has extended, than the care and kindness 

 bestowed upon the horses ; excepting always the omnibus and 

 cab horses in London, who seem, like galley-slaves, to be sen 

 tenced to hard labor as a punishment, and the hunting horses, 

 who, especially in what are called steeple chases, which are in 

 fact only trials of speed under the most unfavorable circum 

 stances, are subjected to a severity of usage absolutely barbarous. 

 I had the pleasure of enjoying the hospitality of a family of 

 high rank, at whose residence forty or fifty carriage and hunting 

 horses were kept, and where it was the custom for the principal 

 members of the family, and their guests, to visit, by a covered 

 passage way, the stables late in the evening, to see that every 

 thing was in order ; that the grooms and their respective charges 

 were in their places, and in proper condition ; and that the noble 

 animals, who contributed so essentially to their pleasure and 

 comfort, were duly cared for. The establishment was a model 

 of neatness and good management. I have had the pleasure to 

 find many a farm stable, where the comfort and health of its 

 occupants were provided for with a carefulness equally exem 

 plary. I confess I never witnessed such kind, and only proper 

 care bestowed upon these noble animals without a strong desire 

 that some other animals employed in the labor of the farm, cer 

 tainly not less noble, and whose toil is equally severe, were the 

 objects of a similar care and kindness. 



. With respect to the soiling of sheep, it could rarely be prac 

 tised on any extensive plan ; but the folding of sheep for fatten 

 ing, and with a view to enrich the land in the fields, where the 

 produce grows, which may be considered as one form of soiling, 

 is universally practised. Experiments have been made on the 

 feeding of sheep entirely within a yard ; and the result, with 

 respect to an eminent farmer in Yorkshire, whose establishment 

 I had the pleasure of visiting, seemed to show that much was 

 gained by this process, inasmuch as the animals consumed a 

 much less quantity of food, in the proportion of 30 to 50, than 

 animals which had a free range ; but later experiments, by other 

 individuals, do not confirm these results. Mr. Pusey, for exam- 



