THE IRISH HORSE-BREEDING INDUSTRY. 331 



(2.) The midland and southern counties — in fact the whole country 



south of the Boyne — for hunters ; 



(3.) The greater part of Ulster, for " general purpose " horses ; and, 

 (4.) The western seaboard — principally Galway and Mayo— for 



ponies. 



These divisions must not be regarded as at all absolute, for many good 

 hunters are bred in the North, just as some good heavy horses are pro- 

 duced in some of the best hunter-breeding districts in the South. Speaking 

 generally, the following counties may be regarded as most noted for the 

 production of the different types : — 



Hunters. — Cork, Limerick, Tipperary, Waterford, Wexford, Carlow, 

 Kildare, Meath, Westmeath, Galway, and Roscommon. 



Heavy Cart Horses. — Dublin, Louth, Antrim, Down, and London- 

 derry. 



General Purposes Light Horses. — The whole country. 



Ponies. — Western Galway and Mayo, and North Antrim. 



Though complaints about the decadence of the Irish-bred hunter have 

 been frequently heard during the past twenty years, there is reason to 

 believe that at no date within the memory of the present generation was 

 the horse-breeding industry of the country in such a healthily vigorous con- 

 dition as at the present time, and there is also good reason for the assertion 

 that at no period for many years was the outlook for the future so full of 

 promise. Through the medium of an annual public grant of ;^5,ooo hereto- 

 fore administered by the Royal Dublin Society, much has been accom- 

 plished in the direction of encouraging breeders to pay more attention to 

 the selection of their mares and to the use of a better class of sires, and as 

 the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction for Ireland is 

 making the improvemeni: of horse-breeding one of the principal planks in its 

 platform, still further advance in the same direction may be looked for 

 wilhin the next few years. The Department have already formulated a 

 comprehensive scheme of stock improvement under which small farmers 

 v/ill be supplied with the services of sires which they could not otherwise 

 obtain ; in the case of thoroughbred sires these services will be obtainable 

 to three guinea horses at the nominal fee of 2s. 6d. This scheme is being 

 worked in conjunction with the various local bodies throughout the country, 

 and it speaks well for the enthusiasm with which the work of general stock 

 improvement has been taken up, that all the County Councils have adopted 

 the scheme, and are actively engaged in giving it effect in their respective 

 localities. 



