CREATORS OF PASTORAL WEALTH 135 



Society, the Smithfield Club, the Hunter Improve- 

 ment Society, the Polo Pony Society, the Shetland 

 Pony Society and the Essex Agricultural Society. 

 It was through his efforts that the Royal Commis- 

 sion on Horse Breeding was created. He was also 

 a Jersey cattle fancier, the herd at Elsenham being 

 accounted one of England's best. 



Like most other men who have accomplished 

 things worth while in animal breeding, Sir WALTER 

 was a profound student. He was learned beyond 

 most of his contemporaries in respect to the origin 

 and development of the British types, and was the 

 author of numerous addresses and pamphlets deal- 

 ing with various aspects of horse breeding in the 

 British islands. Some of these, notably "The Great 

 Horse," and "Thoroughbred and Other Ponies," were 

 published by VINTON & Go. in book form. "The 

 Great Horse" deals largely with the remote ances- 

 try of the English Shire or Gart horse. In fact Sir 

 WALTER is commonly credited with having rescued 

 not only the Shire and the Hackney, but the Hunter 

 from deterioration and decay. He paid $4,300 for 

 the stallion Spark at a time when the Gart horse 

 type was losing favor, and gathered a group of 

 public-spirited men together and put the Shire Horse 

 Stud Book of England upon its feet. In 1894 



