118 England's horses, 



About 30,000 horses have gone from England to France during 

 the war. At the time our Government ("the hlessed Liberals") 

 were hesitating about giving £40 each for 2,000 artillery horses, 

 Gambetta sent an order to give from £45 to £50 for 2,000. And 

 this, I suppose, decided our authorities to give £40 ; so that we 

 may thank Gambetta for getting us a better article. 



In the Crimean war £40 was given ; since then the price came 

 down to £30 for three-year-olds, and £35 for four-year-olds ; then 

 no four-year-olds were bought at the time except they could be 

 bought at the same price. Farmers and breeders would sell 

 useful lean three-year-olds early in the year for £30, but would 

 not keep them till four at anything like the same price, as they 

 found useful horses worth £40 or more. Then the Prussians and 

 Austrians came into the market, and bought up all the quick, 

 active horses, at from £35 to £40, or £45 each. In seven years, 

 from the two ports of Hull and Harwich alone, about 14,000 mares 

 were sent off These were the mares which we ought to have 

 retained to breed from. They are the very things we now want. 

 If one-half only had remained to become brood mares, we ought to 

 have had, at least, 5,000 horses per annum from them, and they 

 would most of them have remained in the country had the price 

 given for our troop horses been £5 higher ; therefore you are suffer- 

 ing from the effect of buying a low-priced and inferior article in 

 two ways. Most of the light troopers, of late years, have been pur- 

 clmsed in Ireland, at about £30. The price given has not been 

 enough to induce breeders to breed and keep good animals for the 

 purpose of the army, more especially as the demand has been 

 small and intermitting,* instead of remunerative and continuous. 



The mares are gone, and it ivill take years to replace them.f 

 The price of horses, like everything else, is higher in England 

 than elsewhere, and is not likely to be cheaper, but dearer. Up- 

 wards of 60,000 were eaten in Paris. How many were used up 



* Why should it be so with a large per centage of our cavalry soldiers on foot, 

 and our Artillery inefficiently horsed ? The author don't know. Better ask the 

 " blessed Liberals !" 



f Thank our stars for that, if we only replace them, as we may do, with im- 

 proved quality. 



