AGRICULTURE AND THE HORSE. 349 



what various dietetic processes a good colt could be 

 brought to the most complete and thorough maturity. 

 When the problem of an ailing dumb beast, ignorant 

 of its own sensations, and incapable of communicating 

 its story of aches and pains to others, came up, the 

 multifarious remedies astonished an observing mind 

 more than the diverse and complicated diseases. That 

 there was a little confusion now and then cannot be 

 denied, but no more than may be found on almost 

 every subject in a large general assembly. There was 

 a good deal said about the value of the thorough-bred 

 as a trotter, and the worthlessness of cold-blooded 

 horses without pedigrees for any purpose. There were 

 a good many claims put in for thorough-blood in be- 

 half of honest New-England horses whose lineage 

 could be traced for generations into and through all 

 the barn-yards of their native districts. Many a strong- 

 footed, stout-limbed, swinging-gaited, ample-headed, 

 coarse-haired horse, going at his track-work with the 

 determination of a prize-fighter, and measuring his 

 strides with his strong shoulders and quarters as regu- 

 larly as the pistons of a locomotive, was found to be 

 descended from some daisy-cutting son of Godolphin, 

 brought over by some unknown army-officer, or sent 

 over to colonize a new world. The valuable services 

 of a remarkable '' red " horse as a stock-getter in one 

 section were elaborately set forth. An account was 

 given of a "sorrel horse with black points," which had 

 travelled a hundred miles in ten hours, " two men to 



