Army. They were not prepared to recom- 

 mend the formation of Government breeding 

 studs on the Continental plan, deeming it 

 better that the military authorities should 

 continue to buy as private customers. They 

 did not recommend any check on the use 

 of unsound stallions, though admitting this 

 to be a great evil ; to restrain owners of 

 unsound sires from offering their services 

 for hire would, they thought, be construed 

 as interference with individual liberty ; but, 

 if practicable, they would have prizes given 

 at agricultural shows to sound stallions which 

 covered mares at a low fee. 



They also recommended (and this was the 

 only one of their recommendations adopted 

 by the House of Commons) the abolition of 

 taxes on horses which operated as a deterrent 

 to farmers who would otherwise pay more 

 attention to breeding. The evidence given 

 before them showed that there appeared to 

 be no scarcity of Thoroughbreds : high- 

 class hunters had increased in price and 

 more in proportion than other horses, but 

 those who could afford to pay could 

 generally find what they required. There 

 was a general decrease in the number of 

 horses in England ; the evidence pointed 

 to a great scarcity of agricultural horses, 



