1837] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



201 



we have the same power, is it nol worili our while, 

 now tli;»t our horses have become so much deteri- 

 or.ued lljr Lisiilui piirpo.-^e?, to try if we cannot lar- 

 (her carrv out ihe swteni of those, wlio orisrinafeii 

 the 'turf,' bv in ikini^ the princip.le of coniinued 

 selection aj)i>iicahle to a union of properties, rather 

 than to one nropertj? If the standard be discreetly 

 chosen for testing a race o!" horses, biMULj such as 

 thev can so ihrouirh without distress, should this 

 stan.liird be afierwards lowered because the [)ower 

 of the racer becomes alierwards diminished? If 

 not. an.! if experience proves »hat private individ- 

 uals do lower tha stanilard by which their horses 

 are tested, rather than put themselves to trouble 

 an<l expense, incompatible with individual interest, 

 ouilht we not to endeavor, in this siiecial case, to 

 effect, bv means of a national eslahlis'iment, that 

 which exnerience shows is not likely to be effected 

 by individuals? NolJiinij.it. is clear, can Ions; main- 

 tain a liiir union of properties in these animals, but 

 a test discreetly chosen and steaiiily maintained. 

 That selected hv our ancestors, and coniinued 

 down to the middle of the last century, was suf- 

 ficiently searching — it only reouired to be fixed. 

 The lonij time the earlier horses remained on the 

 turf, proves the rjreatness of their viijor, and the 

 fine condition o(" their limbs. It is notorious hovv 

 quicklv the limbs of the modern racers ijive way: 

 a sinijie race, nav a preparation for one, olien 

 makes them break down. Had the old standard 

 been steadily maintained by which our early ra- 

 cers were tested, the modern ones would not have 

 been permiited to deteriorate in respect to quali- 

 ties which, beintj natural, could be renovated by a 

 recurrence to nature. The motiern racer has not 

 lost speed; he is swifter than the earlier horses, but 

 he has no longer that lorm and those qualities 

 which denote sutRcient vigor. If we once ascer- 

 tain the full e.xlent of vigor belonging to horses of 

 the best race, in an almosi natural condition, if in 

 engrailing gradually on such a race the acquired 

 properties we want, we observe narrowly the mi- 

 nutest loss of viiror which may, fi'om time to time, 

 be developed, we shall soon ascertain bv a mass 

 of facts, carefully recorded, how much of this ani- 

 mal's natural vigor can be united with the neces- 

 sary amount of artificial speed or artificial struc- 

 ture. The moment a new race of horses, formed 

 afier this manner, has acquired sufficient speed 

 and structure, while maintaining sufficient vigor, 

 our standard f)r testing this union of natural and 

 acquired properties should be at once erected, and 

 ever afierwards steadily maintained. This, at 

 least, should be the course pursued with the hor- 

 ses bred within the precincts of a national estab- 

 lishment. Here, the animals which did not come 

 up to the standard once fixed upon for testing the 

 race, should be drafied, and if the evil pervaded 

 the whole of the enlarged stock, this should be 

 renovated by a cross with the smaller animals 

 kept in reserve for the purpose. We have been 

 led to suggest a plan for the management of some 

 of our native ponies, by the small number of the 

 animals left now to choose from. If ti-equent re- 

 currence to horses nearly in a state of nature be 

 beneficial, the quality of them should not be al- 

 lowed to deteriorate. In keeping a considerable 

 number of well-selected native ponies in a pure 

 stale, as respects race, while submitting them to 

 the influence of continued selection, we should 

 place them in the situation of our moor sheep and 

 Vol. V— 26 



hardy Scotch cattle, which, though nearly in a 

 state of nature, and living on the poorest paslur- 

 aire, are vpt subjected lo a system of con'inued se- 

 lection. To these small, but admirable animals, we 

 are compelled to recur, when our more Hicliiious 

 sheep and cattle have become too delicate. Un- 

 der the plan now proposed, none of our native po- 

 nies would be enlarged, or withdrawn from their 

 miserable pasturage, unless their form and action 

 were good — ihe only chanire then ellecied would 

 be a pasturage a little belter. Any further en- 

 largement would be made to depend upon the 

 manner in which ihey had been found to hear the 

 preceding one. This plan, though simple and 

 cheap, would, affer a lijw years, be followed by 

 consequences hiirhly beneficial; we should derive 

 from it practical information which cannot be pro- 

 cured by any system less comprehensive; and, if 

 nature be the source to recur to, when the natural 

 propensities of lactiiious horses are deieriorated, 

 those who breed our saddle horses would find that 

 done tor them, which we have reason to conclude 

 they will never do for themselves. The reader is 

 called on practically to deiermine whether our 

 race-horses are deteriorated in respect to useful 

 and national ofijects; and. if so, whether the pro- 

 perties, which have become defeclive, are natural 

 or artificial ones. If he conclude that their natu- 

 ral properties are deteriorated, he will probably 

 admit tliat nature is the only source to recur to for 

 a remedy." 



Our author instances the practice of the breeders 

 of Herelbrds and Devons, who have continued so 

 long to produce large oxen from small cows with 

 little loss of either hardness or activity; and con- 

 demns the theory of Mr. (Mine, who maintained 

 the necessity of breeding from large cows. Mr. 

 Cline's theory is not founded on {'fid; for ordinary- 

 sized cows of every breed, meaning ordinary to be 

 relative to the nat'.ral size of the breed, |;roduce 

 the finest slock; and large bulls are not requisite 

 lor producing fine stock, provided they are of fine 

 quality. But. it should be borne in mind that Mr. 

 Cline lived at a period when it was generally be- 

 lieved by breeders ihat the lemale had the greatest 

 share in imprinting properties on tlie offspring, and 

 of cour.se he naturally wished to support the pre- 

 vailing opinion l)y theory; whereas, it is now uni- 

 versally admitted that the male exercises the great- 

 est influence on the offspring. It should also be re- 

 membered that castration has a consideiable influ- 

 ence in enlarging the structure of animals, so that 

 whatever may be the size of the parents, the emas- 

 culated progeny will always belartreron the same 

 kind of food. In his remarks on breeding cattle, 

 our author inscribes two paragraphs which we 

 cannot reconcile. At page 19, he says, ^Hhe rich- 

 est pasturage in England, on which cattle are rear- 

 ed, lies on our north-eastern coast. Here the old 

 short-horns, so many of which came annually to 

 supply London with milk, were bred. They were 

 (large, long, and coarse in the limbs, delicate and 

 ill-shapen, requiring at all times expensive food, 

 and fiutening slowly; they gave a large quantiiy 

 of milk, but this yielded iittle'of either curd or but- 

 ter. This race has been renovated within a few 

 years by a cross with a hardier breed — with one 

 in a more natural condition, and the produce is 

 known by the name of the 'new short-horns.^ 

 This race is a great improvement upon the old 

 one, and has spread itself through nearly all our 



