THE COLONIAL HORSE 207 



more than 35o/., where at home they would easily command 

 i,ooo/., and the same proportion holds good for young stock. 



Three-year-old strong, active cart-horses, which would be 

 well bought in England for 6o/. to yo/., do not in New Zealand 

 fetch more than 2o/. to 307. 



The transplanted cart-horse seems to acquire the strength 

 to do heavy work at a great rate and without receiving anything 

 like the care which we bestow upon them at home. The 

 authority which I have previously quoted states that 



On a large farm, on which twelve thousand acres are cultivated, 

 in the south of New Zealand, these horses work in teams of six, 

 drawing a treble furrow plough, and turning over five acres of good 

 wheat land, six inches deep, in eight hours. The lands are more 

 than a mile long, and the pace so fast that men cannot be got to 

 walk behind the horses. This is met by a simple contrivance of a 

 little one-wheeled carriage, fixed behind the plough, in such a posi- 

 tion that a man can ride within reach of his steering handle. The 

 teams start at 8 A.M., and leave the field at 5 P.M., getting a feed 

 from nosebags and water from buckets between twelve and one. 

 No whips are used or carried ; the slowest horses are put behind, 

 where they may be touched with the reins, but that is rarely neces- 

 sary, and there are far more complaints of the horses being too fast 

 than too slow. Each horse in the winter gets eighteen pounds of 

 oats and fourteen pounds of cut straw a day, with a pick of rough 

 grass on Sundays, or any convenient opportunity. First-class oats 

 on the farm are only worth about one shilling and fourpence a 

 bushel. During the coldest and wettest months of winter the horses 

 are worked within reach of a stable, but during the greater part of 

 the year they are turned out in rugs made of canvas lined with felt, 

 in which they do quite as well, if not better. 



In considering the relative excellence of the horses of the 

 two countries it is impossible to express any decided opinion 

 as to the relative speed of English and Australian racehorses. 

 The test of time would be utterly misleading. The race- 

 courses in Australia are mostly flat, there is no Tattenham 

 Corner, no hill in the race for the Victorian Derby. On English 

 courses a race is frequently run ' through the dirt ' in very 



