34 THE COLTS OF DILIGENCE. 



Your fifth and sixth questions will be answered by what I have furtboi 

 to '»ay in regard to the progeny of Diligence. 



I may safely say they are universally docile and kind, at the same time 

 spirited and lively. They break-in without any difficulty. As regards 

 their speed, I do not know ^f any that can be called fast horses, though 

 many smart ones among ordinary road horses. Diligence, as I have said 

 elsewhere, was chosen (for obvious reasons) as a full-sized specimen of the 

 breed. As for speed in trotting, we cannot doubt its being in the breed, 

 when we look at the instances among the thorough-bred Canadian ponies. 

 Could I have made my selection from the stallions which I rode behind in 

 the diligences, I could have satisfied the most fastidious on this point, but, 

 unfortunately, these horses all belonged to the government, and are never 

 sold until past service. My main object was to produce a valuable farm 

 horse. The chance of fast colts is not very great ; because those persons 

 having fast mares to breed from, naturally look for a fast stallion, and fail- 

 ing to find him, take one of the best English blood they can find ; and 

 should they occur, they will be mares, or, ten to one, horses, gelded before 

 their good qualities are discovered. Perhaps some part of what I say 

 above will be more clear to you if I say, that I hold to the opinion that the 

 Percheron blood still exists in Canada in all its purity. 



You will think, perhaps, that I have said quite enough about my humble 

 hobby, and you will have found out too, that I have no idea, contrary to 

 your good-natured warning, of making " swans of my geese." What I 

 should like to see would be further importations of these horses, thereby 

 multiplying the chances for a happy hit in crossing, and to draw public atten- 

 tion to them, which would do more for them than writing till doomsday. 

 So fnr from considering these horses as capable by any crossing of producing 

 the very best of horses for all purposes, that is to say, the best horse-of-all- 

 work, I believe that if I had my time to live over again, had a very large 

 landed estate, an unlimited supply of " the dust,'" I could produce that 

 horse by breeding from the thorough-bred English racer. It would not 

 be difficult now to select, to start from, stallions and mares possessing all 

 the requisites of size, form, temper, (fee. ; but each of these individuals is 

 such a compound of all kinds of ancestors, good, bad, and indifferent, that 

 you would be obliged fi-om their progeny to select and reject so often, for 

 faults of size and form, and for blemishes and vices, that your allotted days 

 would be near a close before you produced anything like uniformity in the 

 breed. Still, we see what has been done by Bakewell and others in breed- 

 ing stock, therefore I contend, a la Sam Patch, that what has been done 

 may be done again. 



I therefore am decidedly of opinion, that we cannot do better, if we wish 

 to produce in any reasonable time a most invaluable race of horses for the 

 farm and the road, than to breed form the full-sized Norman or Percheron 

 horse. 



Mr. Rowland's horse (the portrait of which is given at the beginning of 

 1 his article) is of r!ie true breed, having been raised by me from one of my 

 iHiiforted mare.'s put to Diligence, and I consider him a remarkably fine 

 "Specimen of the breed. 



I remain, yours very sincerely, 



EDWARD HARRIS. 



Mr Youatt in speaking of the French horses, says : " The 

 best French horses are bred in Limousin and Normandy. From 

 the former district come excellent saddle-horses and hunters ; 

 %nd from the latter a stronger species for the road, the cavalry, 



