228 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



Feb. 5, 1830 



1.IBKAIIY OF ITSKPL'L. K>'0\VL.G:DGE. 



ICfHtiKucd jytm fag» feo.] 

 CHAPTER II. 



TlIK DIFFERENT FOREIGN JIREEDS. 



TIIF. EAST INDIA.'* MORSE. 



W'c will now travtl further eastward, and look 

 at the breeds of horses incur Indian |iossessiniis. 

 First, we have the Tnorky, orij^inaliy from a Toor- 

 koinun un<l a Persian, heauiifiil in his form, grace- 

 ful in his nclion, and doeilc in his temper. It is 

 said that, Avlien .skilfully managed, the grandeur 

 and .stateliness of hs carriage arc eijual to what 

 the warmest imagination can conceive of the 

 horse ; his S|iirit rising as his exertions are re- 

 quired, he exhibits to his beholders an a|p|icarancc 

 of fury in the perforniaiicc of his task, yet prc- 

 <ierviiig to his rider the utmost playfidness and 

 gentleness. 



Next comes the Iranee, well limbed, and his 

 joints closely knit, and particularly powerful in 

 the quarters, but with scarcely sufiicient spirit, 

 and his cars large and loose. 



The patient and docile Cozakee is dcej) in the 

 girth, jiowerful in the lorearm, but with large 

 head, and sadly cat-lminined ; hardy, and calcu- 

 lated for long journeys and severe service. 



The .Mojiiiniss liave spirit, beauty, speed and 

 perseverance. 



The Tdzset is slight, hollow backed, and, f<u- 

 that reason pcrhap.s, although deficient iii strength, 

 and leaving, as it were, his legs behind him, and 

 likewise irritable in temper, yet sougljt after on 

 account of the peculiar easiness of his pace. 



A sale of horses near th<! Company's stud, at 

 Hissar, is thus described by an excellent judge. — 

 " Not less than one thousand horses were shown. 

 They were all above fourteen hands an I a half 

 in height, hiuh crestod, and showy looking horses. 

 The great defect seemed a want of bone; below 

 the knee, which is indeed general to all the native 

 horses throughout India ; and also so great a ten- 

 dency to fulnet^s in the ho' ks, that, in Englau<l, 

 it would be thought half of them had blood spa- 

 vins." 



■rui; cni.NKSK iiobse. 

 This breed is small, weak, ill formed, without 

 spirit, and altogether undeserving of notice. 



TiiK pr.RslA.^ iionsK. 



Ucturning westward, we find llio Persian next 

 in estimation, and deservedly so, to the Arabian. 

 The head is almost c(|ually beautiful, the crupper 

 superior; he is eipial in speed, hut far inferior in 

 enduianco. The whole frame is more developed 

 than in the Arabian. 



The Persiari liori<es were celebrated for many a 

 century before the Arabians were known, or even 

 existed. They consliiuled, in aueiint times, the 

 best cavalry of the East. The native Persian v.as 

 MO highly prized, il,at .Mexander considered one of 

 them the noblest gift he could bestow; and when 

 the kings of Piulhia would propiiiate their divi- 

 nities by the uwifX i-osily Hacrifice, a Persian horse 

 was ofl'eri.l ou ihe alinr. An enleriaining travel- 

 ler, (Sir R. Ker Porter) liears testimony that thi'y 

 have nut now degenerated. He gives the follow- 

 ing aeeount of this breed. 



"The Persian hoi-ses never exeeid fourleen or 

 fourteen and a half bands hi;:h, yet eerlainly, in 

 the whole, are taller than ll Arabs. Thoso of the 



desert and eiumtry alxuit llillali lun very small, 

 but are full of bone, and of guoil speeil. Ceneral 

 custom feeds anrl waters them only at sunrise and 

 sunset, when they are cleaned. Their usual pro- 

 vender is barley and chopped straw, which, if the 

 animals are |ii<pietted, is put into a nose bag, and 

 hung from their heatis ; hut if stabled, il is thrown 

 into a small lo/.enge shaped hole left in the thick- 

 ness of the mud wall (ijr that purpose, hut niiirli 

 higher up than the line of our maii!.'ers, and there 

 the animal eats at his leisure. Hay is a kiTid of 

 food not known here. 'J'lie bedding of the horse 

 c(msists of his dung. ,After being exposed to the 

 drying influence of the sun during the day, it lie- 

 comcs pulverized, and, in that stale, is nightly 

 spread under him.* Little of it t(Uicl;es his body, 

 that being covered by his elolhing, n large ni/m- 

 mitd from the ears to the tail, and hound firmly 

 round his body by a very long surcingle. But 

 this apparel is only fer cold weaihi-r; in the 

 warmer season the night-clothes arc of a lighter 

 substance, and during the heat ofihe day, the an. 

 imalis kept entirely under shaile. 



".\f night he is tied in the courtyard. The 

 horses' heads are attached to the place of security 

 by double ropes from their baiters, and the heels 

 of their binder legs are confined by cords of twist- 

 ed hair, fastened to iron rings, aiul pegs driven in- 

 to the earth. The same custiuii prevailed in the 

 time of Xcnophcn, and fiir the same reascni, t" 

 secure them from lieing .-dile to attack and maim 

 each other, the whole stud generally consisliiig of 

 stallions. Their keepers, however, always sleep 

 ou their rugs amongst them, to prevent accident; 

 and sometimes, notwithstanding all this care, they 

 manage to break loose, and then the combat en- 

 sue-. A general neighing, screatuiug, kicking, an 1 

 snorting, soon rouses the grooms, and the seen* 

 for a while is terrible. Ilideed no one can eon- 

 ceive the sudden uproar of such a moment w"ho 

 has net been in Eastern countries to hear it, and 

 then all who have, must bear me witness that the 

 noise is tremendous. They .>ieize, bile, and kick 

 each other with the most dt'termined fury, anrl 

 frequentlv cannot be separated befori' their heads 

 and liauMclies stream with blood. Even in skir- 

 mishes with the natives, their horstii take part in 

 the fray, tearing each other wit'i their teeth, while 

 their masters are in similar close quarters on their 

 backs." 



His description of a Persian race ilnes not al- 

 together remind us of Newmarket or Doncaster. 



" My curiosity was fully on the spur to see the 

 racers, which I could not doubt have bei'n chosen 

 from the l)cst in the nation, to exhibit the peifec- 

 , tion of its breed befm-e the sovereign. The rival 

 horses were divided into three sets, in order to 

 lengthen tin- amirsement. They had been in Irain- 

 iii!.' for several weeks, going over the gnuind very 

 often rim'iug that time ; anil when I did see them, 

 1 foimil SI) much ])ains had been taken to sweat 

 and reduce their weight, ihal their hones were 

 nearly rntling the skin. The distance marked 

 for the race was a stretch of lour-and-twenty 

 miles, and, that hi.s ni:ijesly might not have lo 

 wait when we bad reacheil the fiehl, the horses 

 had set forward long before by three ilivisioiis, 

 from the starting point, (a short interval of time 



• It l« the u»ual floorinjof the iilfiblc ami the Cent. The 

 iiniteil iiifluciifc of the sini nnrt nlr <le|irive it of nil iin- 

 plfS'inal cdor, anil when from ixc il liecoaie^ n nccoiiil 

 time oHensive.il IM iigaiii oxposcil luthu tun, anil all uu- 

 pleasant snit'II once more taken nwiiy. 



pas.-ing between each ge»,) so Ihat they might I 

 gin to come in, u few iuiiiut«-s after 4he king I: 

 taken his se.-it. The ditferent di\isioiia arrived 

 regular order at the goal, hut ull so fatigued a 

 e.\liaiisieil, that their liiriuer boasted lketne>H lull 

 ly exceeilcd a inodcrale canter when ihey pan 

 before the royal eyes." 



In t'invissia almost every family of distiiiclii 

 whether of princes or iiobl<-s, boasts of po.'^.-.C'si * 

 .1 peculiar race of horses, which, w hen vouiig, i 

 burned on the butlock with a particular ma 

 On ibis occa.-'ioli, they act with the most scrii| 

 lous adherence to custom, so that a person w 

 slionld attempt to burn n characier ex pressing i 

 lile desceni, on a filly of a cumiiioii race, wi.u 

 for such fiirgery, forfeit his life. The' most ci- 

 hraied race of Circassian horses has receiveil t 

 n.iuie of Shalokh, and is in the exclusive pos» k 

 sion of the Tan Sultan family. This race is t 

 uable for its slrenglh and swiftness, more than 

 peculiar beauty. Its distinguishing mark is u f r 

 horse shoe, without an arrow. 



THE TOORKOUAN HORSE. 



Turkistan is that part of South Tartary, iiort 

 east of the Caspian sea, and has been celcbral 

 iVoin very early times, for producing a pure a 

 valuable breed of lioi-scs. They are called To> 

 komans. They are siiid to be preferable even 

 the pure Persians, for service. They arc larj 

 standing from fifteen to sixteen hands high ; 

 ftewifl, and inexhaiislihle under fatigue. Some 

 I them have travelled nine hundred miles in eley 

 I successive days. They, however, arc soinewl: 

 too small in the barrel, — too long on the legs,- 

 occasionally ewe necked, and always have a he 

 out of priqiortioM large ; yet, .■such ore the g* 

 qualiries of the hor.se, that one of the pure blu 

 is worth two or three hundred pounds, even iu tl 

 country. 



Captain Fraser,4vho is evidently a good jiirl 

 of the horse, (in his Joiinicy to Khornsan) ih 

 relates the iinptcssioii which they made on hit 

 — "They are deficient in compactness. Th 

 bodies are long in proportion lo their bulk. Th 

 are imt well ribbed up. They arc lQ.ng on t 

 legs, — deficient iu muscle, — falling off below 1 



knee ; — narrow chested, long necked, — he 



large, uncouili, and seldom well put on. Sin 

 was the impression I received from the first sir 

 of them, and it was not for some time that il 

 superior valuable i|Ualities were apparent to im 

 [To ht conliniifj vrrl wrtk ] 



HORTIOILTURE. 



Mr Fessknden — As the cullivalion of Silk IVon 

 now claims attenllon, in all parls of the I'nilcil Sitli 

 [ the folloHinj; extract may be fouiiil inlercsiing lo Ihc e 

 periaientalist ; ami believing Ihat ihc newly tliicover ' 

 'Mulberry tree, which has excited so much inquiry 

 I Italy and France, would he a valuable acquisiiloii Iu t) 

 counlry, iiicusures have been taken, to procuie ^ rd* fr* 

 'Europe, for dislribution among the nieiubera of the .M( 

 Uarhunclt.'i Horticultural Society. 



I Silk will become one of the great staple pnxiurU 

 {our eounlty, and nllhoiigh the reaiin:; of the v;iluable ii 

 <cct< which prmlure il, does not propei ly biloiic to II 

 iomniii of lloiliculnire, siill, the cultivation ot Ihe Ircr 

 which nlTurd ihcm tlu-ir >ippit>prliilr aliment, i» rpcriall 

 kicludcd, and conslilulen ene of the most important di 

 lartmcnls. Very rcipeclfully. 



Your most ol>edlcnl seiranl. 

 Briulai Placr, \ H. A. S. DE.^RBORN. 



Jan. 29, 1830. ( 



