200 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



great symmetry of form, strong in the limbs, said to be three- 

 quarters Thoroughbred. 



The Suffolks attracted great attention. Tliey have under- 

 gone considerable changes in the course of improvements in 

 breeding. The punchy character has been bred out of them, 

 and they have become horses of much greater size and style. 

 They derive their name from the county in which they are 

 most extensively bred, and are not very common in other parts 

 of England. They show very considerable uniformity of color 

 and general form. They are said to be capital farm horses, 

 but not equal for heavy loads to the common dray, the Clydes- 

 dale, or what is called here the agricultural horse. Some of 

 these horses at the exhibition were loaded down with fat. 



The carriage horse is usually a cross with Thoroughbred and 

 Cleveland Bay. Those shown at Battersea Park were not 

 remarkable, though a few were decidedly showy horses. The 

 competition in this class was not large. 



In Roadsters the exhibition was scarcely equal to a county 

 fair in New England. Indeed many a county fair with us far 

 surpasses in this class. 



The dray horses made a magnificent turn out, though it 

 would be difficult to see the advantage of making so many 

 distinct classes. They difl'er little from those in the class of 

 agricultural horses, and in fact it is no uncommon thing for a 

 horse to take a premium as a dray horse one year, or at one 

 show, and as an agricultural horse at the next. The immense 

 dray horses often seen in the brewers' teams are too slow, and 

 they will soon give place to horses of less size and greater 

 activity. 



The Clydesdales formed an extremely interesting part of the 

 show, especially in the class of stallions. The first prize horse 

 in this class, without question the best cart horse stallion in the 

 show, cost -12,500, so the groom said. It was reported that the 

 horse which received the commendation of the judges sold for 

 the same sum. The Clydesdales are noted for their fine style 

 and action, and for great strength and nimbleness of motion; 

 they are said, also, to have remarkably good legs and feet. 

 The first prize horse above alluded to was a very large and 

 powerful stallion, exceedingly strong in the hind quarters and 

 yet full of life and spirit. It is the kind of horse that we need 



