1836.] 



FARMERS' REGISTER, 



663 



from the sum of live and sound colts foaled, for 

 death, or material injury, received before the colt is 

 four years old, so thai the colt is a total loss — not 

 to say expense. Now suppose the death or injury to 

 occur on an average at two years of age, when the 

 colt has cost you #414; you must add to each of 

 the remaining nine, one-ninth of that sum which 

 is $46. So that on an average, each of your colts 

 raised, and sound and untrained at lour years old, 

 costs you a total of $610. 



Of all the line colts raised, not more than one- 

 third are ever trained; leaving you two-thirds of 

 all your fine colts, which have cost you each, $610. 

 Of these two-thirds of untrained colts, one-half are 

 mares; we will suppose them all fine — and to 

 bring us brood-mares each $400. The other half 

 of the untrained colts being geldings sell at a libe- 

 ral estimate on an avi 200. So that of 

 three colts each costing $6l0, and the three costing 

 an aggregate of $1830, you sell two for an aggre- 

 gate of $600, leaving you one colt lor training at 

 the handsome sum of ^, 1230. Now add the cost 

 of training this colt, which is never less than §100; 

 and each trained colt raised by you, costs you 

 §1,330. 



Twenty colts thus raised and trained, cost an 

 aggregate of $26,600. Of these twenty it is cer- 

 tain, that ten will not bring more than an average 

 of $500, each. Deduct the aggregate value of 

 these ten, from the aggregate cost of the twenty; 

 and, it leaves you ten colts, costing an aggregate 

 .600. Of these ten, it is certainly a fair esti- 

 mate, that six will not bring you more than $1000 

 each; so that you have lour first rate colts, trained 

 and sound at tour years old, costing you an aggre- 

 gate of $15,600; or each colt costing you $3,900. 



These prices seem to stand on sure arithmetical 

 grounds. If any of the charges have been made 

 too high, the mistake is open to correction. But 

 it can scarcely happen that any possible mistakes, 

 and their exposure, can exhibit a result of anything 

 but Zoss, on a general average, to the breeders of ra- 

 cing horses. But these expenses are not all. There 

 are expenses of another kind to be added, which 

 though more conjectural, and therefore more lia- 

 ble to be incorrectly estimated, are not the less cer- 

 tain to be met with in greater or less amount — and 

 generally in a very large amount. I will now 

 present an estimate of a supposed average of this 

 additional charge — and if any reader objects to its 

 justice, he may even reject it entirely. The case 

 of loss is sufficiently strong without this additional 

 charge — which is for the general injury caused to 

 a man's farming business and income, by the direc- 

 ting his care and attention, to this seductive and 

 engrossing pursuit. 



Suppose a man to have ft 20,000 invested in land, 

 negroes, plantation stock, &c, &c, &c. and 

 that besides this investment, he keej s five first 

 rate brood mares: what will be the effect of this 

 latter fact, on the availableness of the first invest- 

 ment of $20,000? Will it not well nigh neutra- 

 lize it? Certainly it will diminish its profitableness 

 one-half Now estimating the profitableness of 

 such investment to be six per cent, per annum, 

 (which it ought to be,) and calculating the interest 

 on one-half of the investment, it gives us $600 per 

 annum. Now according to the foregoing esti- 

 mates, with five brood mares, it will require twen- 

 ty-two years to secure to the proprietor the four 

 first rate trained colts four years old; and during 



eighteen years he loses the interest on $10,000 

 annually; which, in twenty-two years, will amount 

 to $13,200; which sum divided equally among the 

 lour fine colts, and added to their previous cost, 

 makes each one to have cost the proprietor $7,200. 

 Thus, his four horses cost him a total of $28,800. 



It is proper to add, that if the person attempting 

 to raise fine horses be a poor man, and therefore, 

 cannot lose the interest on $10,000 annually, it 

 only makes the case the worse; for being poor, his 

 own close and personal attention to his private af- 

 fairs is a matter of great importance — and being 

 poor, he is destitude of the means to bring his colts 

 favorably into market, so that the ulntost he is 

 likely to do, is to raise saddle-horses at $200 each, 

 and, broodmares at $400; while they actually cost 

 him, each $610; that, is, he sells at an average of 

 $300 — what cost him an average of $610. What 

 a prospect for making money ! A man sells his 

 colts at less than half what they cost. Or if he 

 has as many of them trained, as is commonly 

 done; then after twenty-two years toil, he has 

 raised and sold, or has on hand, four fine horses; 

 each of which cost him $7,200. What he will 

 actually get for each of his fine horses is a ques- 

 rion I cannot answer. But suppose he gets for 

 three of them, $5000 each — and for the fourth, 

 $10,000— being a total of $25,000 still, he loses in 

 money $3,800. But one in sixty of all the fine 

 colts raised to be lour years old, does not sell for 

 $10,000; and three more out of every sixty, do 

 not sell for $5,000 each. On the contrary, not one 

 in three hundred sells for $10,000; and not one in 

 one hundred for $5000. Besides, those horses, 

 which even bring these prices, seldom bring it at 

 four years old. They have to be travelled through 

 the country, and money risked upon their speed, 

 and great expense incurred, before they will com- 

 mand this sum. It is very seldom that the gentle- 

 man raising the horse, gets the high prices just 

 named. It is the racer who has paid for him at 

 most $ 1000 or ft 1500, who afterwards sells for these 

 high prices. It is true that the owner of the colt 

 sometimes is, or becomes the racer; but if his first 

 lessons on the turf are with his own colts, he is apt 

 to find it a very losing business. 



Thus, Mr. Editor, I have stated the result 

 of my inquiry into this matter. Are not the fore- 

 going estimates correct? One of Virginia's most 

 honored sons, who has furnished the data on, 

 which they are founded — says they are within 

 bounds. He himself has made the experiment 

 on a large scale, and under every advantage; and 

 he has arrived at the full and firm conclusion, that 

 a more losing business is not done. But if the es- 

 timates be incorrect, let any gentleman show^ 

 wherein; and prove the business profitable, if he 

 can. But if these estimates be any thing like the 

 truth, let us abide their decision: and when we 

 think of raising fine horses, let us remember the 

 lessons taught by these or similar estimates. 



It is pleasant to know that light is beginning to 

 break in on the public mind, on this subject; and 

 that a few gentlemen of foresight and prudence, 

 who, for a time were led off by the delusion, have 

 sold out, or propose to sell out. — and thus the work 

 will pass into the hands of poor "Jim, who, has 

 not looked at the other side." Yet is there not on 

 the whole any diminution, but rather an increase 

 of the entire business done in this line. 



GULLET. 



