85 



came to us for their stock and caused a 

 drain upon our resources. 



The Commission reported " there was 

 little doubt that the Queen's Plates had 

 failed to fulfil their purpose ; " but perhaps 

 it had been nearer the mark to say that 

 the Royal Plates had ceased to fulfil their 

 original purpose, owing to the multiplication 

 of valuable stakes which reduced the Royal 

 hundred-guinea prizes to third-class rank and 

 rendered them useless as factors in the 

 encouragement of breeding. The Commis- 

 sion recommended the abolition of the Royal 

 Plates and the application of the money 

 thereto devoted to a scheme of Queen's 

 Premiums, under which sound and approved 

 thoroughbred sires should stand in specified 

 districts and under control of a local com- 

 mittee, serve mares at a low fee. The 

 scheme was at once adopted, and has 

 worked well in practice. 



The year 1896 saw the appointment of the 

 Royal Commission to Inquire into the Horse 

 Breeding Industry in Ireland. Though the 

 enquiry resolved itself into a comparatively 

 narrow issue, a very large amount of 

 evidence, much of it exceedingly interesting 

 and instructive, was recorded. In pursuance 

 of their policy of encouraging the breeding 



