884 



PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. 



Part III. 



MarshaVs Economy of the Midland Counties, vol. i. p. 306.) Marshal, under too confined a view, 

 and probably prejudiced against the breed on account of its fancied want of spirit, as well as for the 

 alleged tendency to become flat and pommiced in the feet, is most unreasonably severe on it, when he 

 says, " the breed of grey rats, with which this island has of late years been overrun, are not a greater 

 pest in it than the breed of black fen horses ; at least while cattle remain scarce as they are at present, 

 and while the flesh of horses remains to be rejected as an article of human food." {Marshal's Yorkshire, 

 vol. ii. p. l&i). The present improved sub-variety of this breed is said to have taken its rise in six 

 Zealand mares, sent over from the Hague by the late Lord Chesterfield, during his embassy at that 

 court. 

 5572. The Cleveland bays [Jig. 609.), which owe some of their most valuable properties to crosses witl 



the race-horse, have been long celebrated as one of the best breeds in the island ; but they are said to 

 have degenerated of late. They are reared to a great extent in Yorkshire, the farmers of which county 

 are remarkable for their knowledge in every thing that relates to this species of live stock. In activity 

 and hardiness, tliese horses, perhaps, have no superior. Some capital hunters have been produced by 

 putting full-bred stallions to mares of this sort ; but the chief object latterly has been to breed coach, 

 horses, and such as have sufficient strength for a^ two-horse plough. Three of these horses carry a ton 

 and a half of coals, travelling sixty miles in twenty-four hours, without any other rest but two or three 

 baits upon the road ; and frequentlv perform this labor four times a-week. 



5573. The Suffolk punch {fig. 610. )"is a very useful ani- .6 1 

 mal for rural labor, and is particularly esteemed by the 

 farmers of Norfolk, Suffolk, and Essex, but the merit of 

 this breed seems to consist more in constitutional hardi- 

 ness than in any apparent superiority of shape. " Their 

 color is mostly yellowish or sorrel, with a white ratch 

 or blaze on their faces; the head large, ears wide, 

 muzzle coarse, fore-end low, back long, sometimes, 

 but always very straight, sides flat, shoulders too far 

 forward, hind-quarters middhng, but rather high about 

 the hips, legs round and short in the posterns, deep- 

 bellied, and full in the flank. Here, perhaps, lies much 

 of the merit of these horses ; for we know, from obser- 

 vation and experience, that all deep-bellied horses 

 carry their food long, and, consequently, are enabled to 

 stand longer and harder days' works However, certain 

 it is, that these horses do perform surprising days' 

 works. It is well known, that the Suffolk and Norfolk 

 farmers plough more land in a day tlian any other peo- 

 ple in the island ; and these are the kind of horses 

 every where used in those districts." {Culley on Live 

 Stock, p. 27.) Since Culley's time much pains have been 

 taken to improve this useful breed, and to render them, by cultivation, fitted not only for heavy but for 



light work. So great has been the estimation of this breed in Ireland, that Beresford of , 



procured from Suflblk a cart stallion, for which he gave a hundred guineas ; and which he allowed to 

 cover all the Suffolk mares brought to him gratis. 



5574. The Clydesdale horse {fig. 611.) has been long in high 

 repute in Scotland and the north of England ; and, for the 

 purposes of the farmer, is probably equal to any other breed 

 in Britain. Of the origin of this race, various accounts have 

 been given, but none of them so clear, or so well authenti- 

 cated as to merit any notice. They have got this name, not 

 because they are bred only in Clydesdale or Lanarkshire, 

 for the same description of horses are reared in the other 

 western counties of Scotland, and over all that tract which 

 lies between the Clyde and the Forth, but because the 

 principal markets at which they are sold, Lanark, Carnwath, 

 Rutherglen, and Glasgow, are situated in that district, where 

 they are also preserved in a state of greater purity than in 

 most other parts. They are rather larger than the Suffolk , 

 punches, and the neck is somewhat longer ; their color : 

 black, brown, or grey, and a: white spot on the face is ei 

 teemed a mark of beauty. The-breast is broad ; the shoulder 

 thick, with the reaching cartilaginous portion of the blade-bone nearly as high as the withers, and not so 

 much thrown backwards as in road horses ; the hoof round, and usually black, with wide heels ; the back 

 straight and broad, but not too long ; the bucks visible, but not prominent, and the space between them 

 and the ribs short ; the tail heavy, and well haired ; the thighs meeting each other so near as to leave only 

 a small groove for the tail to rest on. One most valuable property of this breed is, that they are remark- 

 ably true pullers, a restive horse being rarely found among them. 



5575. The Welsh horse {fig. 612 a) bears a near resemblance, in point of size and hardiness, to the best of 

 the native breed of the highlands of Scotland, and other hilly countries in the north of Europe. It is too 

 small for the present two-horse ploughs; but (ev/ horses are equal to them for enduring fotigue on 

 the road. " I well remember," says Culley, one that I rode for many years, which, to the last. 



