CHAPTEH 11. 



THE PRINCIPLES OF BREEDING. — REASONS WHY BREED- 

 ERS HAVE NOT BEEN FINANCIALLY SUCCESSFUL. 



No one who is at all acquainted with the history of 

 breeding in New England and the country at large — at 

 least, so far as trotting-horses are concerned — can deny 

 that much money has been lost, and many failures made, 

 by those who have embarked their property in the 

 enterprise. 



The fast horses of the country seem to be rather the 

 result of accident or good fortune than of design. In 

 other business, men invest one or five thousand dollars 

 with the reasonable certainty that they will receive 

 their money back again, together with a profitable rate 

 of interest. This is what is called doing a safe busi- 

 ness ; and it is this certainty of return that renders the 

 business legitimate. By as much as the result is uncer- 

 tain, accidental, the business loses in dignity, ceases to 

 be attractive to a well-constructed intellect, and be- 

 comes a species of gambling. Now, breeding of fast 

 horses has been a business, up to within a few years, and 



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