ROAD HORSES. 137 



ing states the old English custom in this- regard as 

 follows : — 



"Before the advent of railways, fifty miles in a 

 day was not considered too much for a pair of horses 

 to do, and that in a lumbering travelling carriage. 

 The rules laid down for such a journey were, to go 

 ten miles and bait for fifteen minutes, giving each 

 horse an opportunity to wash out his mouth, and a 

 wisp of hay ; then to travel another six miles and stop 

 half an hour, taking off the harness, rubbing the horses 

 well down, and giving to each half a peck of corn. 

 After travelling a further ten miles, hay and water 

 were given as at first, when another six miles might 

 be traversed; and then a bait of at least two hours 

 was considered necessary, and the horses were given 

 hay and a feed of corn. After journeying another ten 

 miles, hay and water, as before, were administered, and 

 the rest of the journey might be accomplished without 

 a further stop, when the horses were provided with a 

 mash for their night meal, and if the weather were 

 cold and wet some beans were thrown in. This calcu- 

 lates a pace averaging six or seven miles an hour." 



I am acquainted with a Morgan filly, five years old, 

 that, without any special preparation, travelled last 

 fall from the White Mountains to Boston, one hundred 

 and forty-seven miles, in exactly three days, with per- 

 fect ease. The first day she went but thirty-five 

 miles, the second fifty-four, the third fifty-eight. Her 

 owner furnishes me with the following account of the 

 last day : — 



" I started from Portsmouth at eight a. m., drove 

 fifteen miles, and stopped for three quarters of an 

 hour, taking the mare out, rubbing her legs well, and 



