FOR PEACE AND WAR. 101 



struction, entirely depends. We have seen that money will 

 procure us the right Stallions, and it is a conceded fact 

 that the stallion's power upon posterity is, possibly, cent, per 

 cent, more important than the mare's. Notwithstanding 

 which, it would be a fallacious attempt to breed from ob- 

 jectionable mares. I am in a position to assert, and with 

 all courtesy but firmness to challenge contradiction, that, 

 so long as The Foreigner is the better buyer for our 

 young mares — as previous incontestible evidence pro- 

 nounces him to be — than the breeder can find amongst 

 his own countrymen in our open fairs and marts, so 

 long are we, especially in Ireland, sure to have only the 

 refuse of the market to fulfil the important duties of stud 

 matrons. Now then, as this statement admits of no con- 

 tradiction in fact, in what position do we find ourselves ? 

 I need scarcely answer. It is patent to the reader. We 

 must restrict the facilities permitted foreigners (those 

 excellent judges) from taking our choicest mares, and 

 the country must supply a class of sires to the general 

 horse breeder at a tempting tariff that it is impossible 

 for private enterprize to effect. Investors in stallions 

 are parsimonious, except in the few instances where gentle- 

 men of wealth keep a horse for the use of their tenants — 

 and, even then, alas! — too often the first thing con- 

 sidered is what will be the price. The speculator in sires 

 for public use at the very moderate prices that farmers will 

 consent to pay, go in for pedigree and winning brackets in 

 the index to " Weatherby," " rather than for those intrinsic 

 and imperative qualifications of colour, bone, size, action, 

 and quality," that are the considerations alone admissible 

 in the selection of a horse for the pro-creation of sound 

 and valuable stock. Where these qualities are procurable 

 in a thorough-bred stallion he is quite worth 500 guineas, 

 and, if got for much less, the man that sells him is far an 

 easier " parter " than I should be if his owner. 



