74 



MONTHLY JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE. 



him is, of course, very considerable. It is be- 

 lieved that $10,000 to $r),000 wonld readily be 

 laid tbat Dutchman can do it, and probably 

 Americus would be backed at less odds like- 

 wise to do it. The trotting- amateurs in New- 

 York profess to entertain no doubt at all upon 

 the subject, and it is believed they have suiB- 

 cient reason for the opinion. 



In making: the presence of Lady Suffolk the 

 occasion for this long disquisition on the trotting 

 hor.'^e, whose powers we have illustrated by ex- 

 amples of extraordinary pci-formance, v^-e have 

 been influenced, let us repeat, by all the consid- 

 erations which the strictest utilitarian can be 

 supposed to regard. We are convinced that 

 whenever we shall have entirely lost sight of 

 the wonderful capabilities %vhich are only to be 

 found in the bred horse, the mevitable conse- 

 quence mu.st be general deterioration, ; while, 

 with proper inducements and precautions to 

 measure his foot and to guage his bottom, no 

 such consequence need be apprehended. 'VS'^hen 

 we insist that, without a good portion of blood, 

 "we can reckon on no general or peiTnanent sup- 

 ply of good nags for the saddle or the harness, 

 possessing fleetness and endurance, our chief 

 purpose is to impress upon American horse- 

 breeders, generally, the absolute necessity of 

 preserving that blood in its purity. A well- 

 fonned horse, of cold blood, may, it is tnie, oc- 

 casionally get fine stock, especially on large, 

 hiirh bred mares ; but to abandon, therefore, our 

 reliance on the blood of the Eastern courser, 

 which has come down to u.s, intact, for ages, 

 would be to let go the rudder at sea, be- 

 cause, perchance, the ship might be floated 

 on an even keel into safe harbor. How the 

 measure of excellence is to be applied, and the 

 results to be recorded and preserved, we must 

 not .stop to discuss. Those who are opposed to 

 all field-.sports, on account of the dissipation and 

 vice with which thej- are too often accompanied, 

 might j'et learn to tolerate what they cannot en- 

 joy. Even Agricultural Fairs and Exhibitions 

 are not always free from profane and immoral 

 indulgences, though utlder the strictest regula- 

 tions. In short, the ^vhole business of life is 

 mixed up with good and evil, and is full of 

 compromises. Shall we forego the use of gun- 

 powder, because that "villainous compound" 

 eometimes charges the pistol of the duelist; or 

 throw up. altogether, the use of steam, because 

 human life is sometimes sacrificed by the care- 

 less u.se of it ? 



POLlTICAf. VALUE OF THE B It E D HORSE. 



But it is not only as a question of individual 

 comfort, or of agricultural economy, that the ad- 

 vantages of a breed of superior horses are to be 

 looked at. It is worthy, too, of the serious re- 

 gard of the Statesman, in the higher and more 



^ (182) 



important aspect it presents in a military point 

 of view, and as thus connected with our nation- 

 al defences. In cavalry, perhaps more than in 

 any other w^eapon, our locality must always 

 give us an advantage over any invading force. 

 An enemy cannot bring cavalry with him. — 

 With something like a well-arranged system in 

 breeding our horses, this advantage may be 

 tiirned to great account in time of war. With 

 the forecast that distinguished his military ad- 

 ministration. Napoleon had the sagacity to esta- 

 blish Haraa, or studs, in the several depart- 

 ments of France, where thorough-bred stallions 

 were placed at the service of the common farm- 

 er, on terms which barely paid the expense of 

 their keep. But to come nearer home — while 

 every one at all familiar with the incidents of 

 our own Revolution, knows how much was ef- 

 fected in the South by Lee's fiimous " Legion," 

 few, comparatively, may be aware to what that 

 celebrated corps chiefly owed its efficiency — 

 and yet it is undeniable that in a great measure 

 tlie prevalence of blood in his horses made it at 

 once the scourge and the terror of the enemy. 

 Wonderful in their endurance of hunger, thirst, 

 and fatigue — prompt to strike a blow where it 

 ■\^"as least expected, and, when forced, as quick 

 to retreat — they may be said to have well earned 

 the description applied to the Parthian steed : 



'■ Qvot sine aqua Partliiis nullia cvrrat equus. 

 How many miles can ran the Paithian horse. 

 Nor quench his thu-st in the fatiguing course ! " 



Artificial Manures. — The extent to which 

 research has been carried to discover new fer- 

 tilizers, and the universal conviction, in Eng- 

 land, that only by the free use of manures can 

 their lands be kept in heart, is well evinced in 

 one of the excellent letters of Mr. Norton, (the 

 11th,) published in that most excellent journal 

 the Albany " Cultivator. ' 



" As Guano begins to fail, (says Mr. Norton,) 

 they are bringing home the bodies of the birds 

 themselves ; some of them were lately sent here 

 in order that their value as a manure compared 

 v\ ith that of Guano, might be determined by 

 Prof Johnston. They had lain buried for years 

 under the Guano, and in appearance resombled 

 the smoked geese from the Shetland Islands, 

 sold in the shops here. They are quite satur- 

 ated with ammonia, and their large bones add 

 much to their value. They would require chop- 

 ping into .small fragments before depositing in 

 the soil, and in consideration of this serious 

 drawback, Prof Johnston considers them worth 

 about £4 per ton, or nearly $20. Were it not 

 for this difficulty, they would be worth as much 

 as Guano itself" 



The Royal Agricultural Societt of 

 England consists of 6,933 members. They 

 pay their Secretarj' two thousand dollars a 

 year ! 



