EXTREMES NEVER MEET. 181 



nerality put a half-bred mare to a thorough-bred sire, 

 a mode that I should say is mostly attended with the 

 best success. Some use the thorough-bred mare and 

 half-bred sire, while others breed from sire and dam 

 half or three-quarters bred. I have in several in- 

 stances seen the experiment tried of putting a direct 

 cart-mare to a thorough-bred sire, and vice versa. 

 I have never yet seen this answer. The produce 

 from such a connexion does not, as might be an- 

 ticipated, possess the strength of the cart parent, 

 lightened by the thorough-bred throughout his 

 general formation, but is mostly a brute with light 

 legs and body, with the head and shoulders of the 

 regular cart-horse ; or, at all events, in some parts or 

 other of his form, he will be this kind of nondescript ; 

 at least all I have seen bred by such a cross have been 

 so. I quite agree with the opinion of many that the 

 produce generally partakes more of the quality of the 

 sire than the dam. This idea, or fact (if it is so), 

 leads many people into the very great error of being 

 careless in their choice of mares. I think, from what 

 I have seen, the Irish err particularly in this respect ; 

 for, speaking in a general way, provided they get a 

 good sire, they put the veriest wretches on earth to 

 him. I am not quite sure but that to this practice we 

 may attribute the fact that Irish horses have hitherto 

 been more cross-made than ours. This peculiarity of 

 form I fancy I perceive to be gradually getting less 

 particular ; they certainly are much improved in their 

 breeding; God knows, they used to produce three- 

 cornered ones enough ; and three-cornered ones are 

 almost sure to come from parents differing so widely 

 in point of quality. 



To breed hunters, although I consider they cannot 



N 3 



