142 



THE GENESEE FARMER 



Mav 7, 18S1, 



Removed. however, to more temperate climes 

 whera vegetation affords by its luxuriance 

 more nutriment, and where the restrictions of 

 danger have ceased to operate, we no longer 

 see him equally small and slender, but wim 

 equal capacity for swift progression, we find 

 him expanding into a form capable of keeping 

 up that progression with a durability unknown 

 to the original breeds from whence he sprang. 

 Symmetrically formed as we now see him, he 

 at once evinces his claim to great speed. His 

 osseous or bonv skeleton exhibits a haso fnun 

 ded on the justest geometrical principles, pre- 

 senting a series of lengthened levers, acting 

 by means of a condensed muscular and tendi- 

 nous organization of great power, on angles 

 capable of great flexion and extension : while 

 his pointed form fits him to cftave that atmos- 

 phere, from which his deep chest enables him 

 to draw by extensive inspirations wind and vi- 

 gor to continue his exertions. Purity of blood 

 by which is meant the result of confining to 

 particular races or breeds the means of con- 

 tinuing their speeies, is observed with equal 

 care and jealousy by the breeders of the Eng- 

 lish race, as by lhe Arabians: and turf jo' k- 

 ies assert that they can discover a taint or de- 

 parture from this purity to the sixteenth re 

 move. 



The hunter is derived from horses of entire 

 blood, or such as are but little remjvod from 

 it, uniting with mares of substance, correct 

 form, and good action. In some instances, 

 hunters are derived from large maieo of the 

 pure breed, prorogating with powerful stall- 

 ions of the old English road horse. This fa 

 vorite and valuable breed is a happy combina- 

 tion of the speed of the Arabian, with the du 

 nihility of the native horse. More extended 

 in form, but framed on the same principles, he 

 is able to carry a considerable weight through 

 heavy grounds, with a swiftness equalled only 

 by the animal he pursues, and with a perseve- 

 rance n?tonishing to the natives of every other 

 country. Henee the extreme demand for this 

 brood of horses in overy Europe. in country : 

 our racing stallions being now sent to propa- 

 gate in the eastern climes, from whence they 

 were some of them originally brought. 



The improved, hackney is derived, like the for- 

 mer, from a judicious mixture of the blood 

 breed with the native horse, but exhibiting a 

 greater propottion of the latter. Hackines are 

 now. however, mostly bred from stallions pos- 

 sessing nearly the same proportion of bl«od 

 with the hunter ; but with a form and qualities 

 somewhat differing. In the hai kney. as safe 

 ty is as requisite as speed, we look particu- 

 larly to the fore parts to see that they are. high 

 and well-placed ; that the head is not heavy, 

 nor the neck disproportionately long or short ; 

 that the legs stand straight, (that is, that a 

 perpendicular line drawn from the point of the 

 shoulder should meet the toe); and that the 

 elbows turn out: and although a perfect con 

 formation in the hinder parts is netessary to 

 the hackney, it is in some measure subordinate 

 to the same perfection in tho tore parts ; where- 

 as in tho racer and hunter, but particularly in 

 the former, the form of the hinder is even of 

 more consequence than that of the fore part. 



The old English road horse. This most use- 

 ful breed is now nearly extinct, although some 

 northern agriculturists appear to be making ef 

 forts to revive lhe race. It has so long been 

 known in this country that it might almost be 

 reckoned among its induenrc : although it is 

 probable that it originally sprang from a judt 

 ctous culture from horses of Norman. German, 

 or Flemish extraction, which horses wore very 

 early imported to enlarge our smaller breeds, 

 and to render them equal to the heavy loads 

 they were accustomed to carry as pack-horses, 

 and of which kind the old English road horse 

 unquestionably is. Neither is it at all impos- 

 sible, that in the more fertile parts of the isl- 

 and, an original breed existed of considerable 

 power and bulk. Alhelstan expressly prohi- 

 bited the exportation of English horses, and 



the "scythed chariots drawn by fiery st.eds 

 if the ancient Britons struok terror even tnti 

 L'oesir's legions. These accounts of the aoti 

 quity of the English horse, receive additional 

 -trength from the notices we obtain of the fog 

 -il hones of horses having been found, accr 

 Jing to Parkinson, in various parts of the isl 

 and. The old English road horse possesse 

 ::reat power, with short joints, a moderate 

 shoulder, elevated crest, with legs and feel 

 almost invariably good The heights varied 

 from fifteen hands to fif'een hands two inehe^: 

 and ihe colors were frequently mixed. 



The obieetion, however, to English horses, 

 both of the original and of the more early im- 

 proved breeds, and which is even still semi a- 

 mong them, is, tha' they want grace or ex 

 pression in their figure or carriage ; that ihey 

 are obstinate and sullen, ami that a certain 

 stiffness in their shoulders, and want of sopie 

 ness and elasticity in their limbs, renders them 

 unfit for the manege. As 'his is an impoitan 

 charge against the excellence of our breeds il 

 may be worth consideration how far it is foun- 

 ded in truth. Commerce requires despatch 

 and England, as a great commercial country, 

 makes every thing subservient to an economi 

 cal use of lime. Conformable, to ttiese prin- 

 ciples, many of the qualities of our horses 

 but principally those of flexiblity and saf-iv 

 in progression, are certainly sacrificed to speed. 

 in which they undoubtedly exeel all horses in 

 the world. It t- well known that all animals 

 intended by nature for qui'jk progression, are 

 formed I iw in their fore parts, and have usual- 

 ly narrow upright shoulders ; and which de 

 t'ects are too common m English horses in ^en 

 oral. On the contrary, in mosi of the impro 

 ved breeds of continental ItorBes, the fore 

 hands are elevated, and the shoulder?, wde 

 and oblique ; bv which, flexibility and safety 

 in progression are gained at some expense 01 

 celerity ; for the strong lumbar muscle* of suel 

 formed horses operating on the lengthened 

 spinous processes of the dorsal vertebra) with 

 increased advantage, elevate the fore parts 

 higher ; and even in default of this form in 

 the fore parts, yet a cerresponding effect is 

 produced in foreign horses by the grea; 

 strength and expansion of their haunches and 

 croups, and by the greater inclination in their 

 hinder extremities towards the common cen 

 tre of gravity of the body : for as speed de- 

 pends first on the extent to which 'he angles 

 of the limbs can br opened, and secondly, on 

 the efforts of the body ill its transit to coun 

 teract the tendency to the common centre of 

 gravity, the earth; so it i9 evident that the 

 form which is the most favorable to speed, is 

 less so to safety or flexibility in progression. 



The hishroad horse, or hunter, coeval with 

 or probably in some measure subsequent to 

 the culture of the old English road horse, was 

 a still more excellent breed With similar 

 properties, but an improved form, with a great 

 acquired aptitude for leaping, it gained the 

 name of the Irish hunter; and when the doge 

 of the chase were less speedy than tlioy now 

 aro, this horso was equal to every thing requi- 

 red of him as a hunter ; even now the posses- 

 sor of the few which remain find, particularly 

 in an enclosed and deep country, that what o 

 thers gain by speed, these accomplish by 

 strength to go through any around, and ictivi 

 ty sufficient to accomplish the most extr (ordi- 

 nary leaps. As roadsters, these horses have 

 ever proved valuable, uniting durability, ease, 

 and safety with extreme docility. In form, 

 they may be considered as affording a happy 

 mixture of an improved hack with our old 

 English roadster. 



[To he continued.] 



NEWS OF THE tVEEK. 



Within a week an agent has been in this 

 town offering as high as sixty seven cents per 

 pound for wool, not of the first quality. — JV. 

 H. Pott. 



CMMF.RCE OF NliW YORK. 



The IN. Y Mercantile Advertiser of Thurs- 



lay says : " The number of vessels arrived at 

 mr port within a few we^ks past, is almost 

 ■inprecedented. and our custom house, during 

 ihe whole of the month of April, has been 

 mwded from opening till closing: the clerks 

 'iave been occupied not only during the reg- 

 ular hours, hut to keep up with the great press 

 f public business, have been engaged till 

 •ear midnight On Saturday last 3j7 entries 

 »re made, and 78 vessels were cleared — be- 

 >;» a grea'er number than ever was known 

 •i any one day before. When the account 

 ir April, of the duties secured and the bust- 

 ness done, shall be made up, we believe it will 

 be found to exceed tint of any previous monfh 

 in the annals of thp Custom House." 



CANAL COMMERCE. 



The business on •:,(■ -;anal, thus far,has been 

 greater than in any firmer year. The col- 

 lector at this place commenced clearing boats 

 on lhe 16lh of April and on Saturday the 30th, 

 three hundred and fifty eic;ht boats had been 

 ■ieared. <nd about twenty eight thousand dol. 

 lars collected for tolls; being an average of 

 nore than $2000 per day. Last year the 

 canal opened on the 20th of April, and the 

 average daily receipts at the office in this place 

 or ihe residue of April, was about <tl500- 



The greatest amount of loll paid in a single 

 lay, was on lhe 231 of April, on which day- 

 tie collector at this place received $4443 ; 

 exceeding the receipts of any single day be-, 

 •re, by about g800 — Albany Argus. 



DISTRESSING SHIPWRECK. 



An-extract of a letter from a gentleman in 

 Halifax, N. S. to his correspondents in New 

 York, dated April I6'h, gives the following 

 ietail if the effects of the late severe gale : 



•' A small vessel arrived here this afternoon. 

 ringing the melancholy account of a raft 

 having come on shore near Shelburne, with a 

 i oung child lashed to it. and also eighteen bo- 

 I'es, one of which was a woman with an in- 

 fant in her arms There is no doubt, fiom the 

 •vood, (.cedar) that it is a vessel from Bermuda, 

 vith invalids, and the families from fhence fo 

 r.ts pott to take in others for Eugland Our 

 last accounts from that Island say, (here were 

 uwards of one hundred men, women and 

 children, and two officers; but it is not known 

 who are the unfortunate officers. A friend of 

 mine who has a son in the 81st rpgiment, is 

 much distressed and anxious, as every person 

 oust have perished." 



SHEET LEAD MANUFtCTORY. 



We aie informed, savs the Illinois Plough 

 boy, that Messrs. Tilton & Parker, of Galena, 

 1 ave put their sheet lead manufactory info 

 operation near that place. They are able to 

 roll 5000 lbs. per day. The lead is delivered 

 from the rolleis in sheets of fifty feet in length 

 ind Ihree feet in breadth, and of any required 

 ■ lickness. There is no doubt that sheet lead 

 will =oon supply Ihe place of shingles as a co- 

 vering for lhe roofs of houses. 



WHAT A COUNTRY FOR O0LD. 



We learn from the most unquestionable au- 

 thority, says the Salisbury (N. C.) Western 

 Carolinian, of thelltbull that from 75 lo 

 100 pounds of gold (Ihe precise quantity not 

 known) were lately found upon a tract of land 

 in Mecklenberg county, about 20 miles cast 

 of Charlotte, belonging to two gentlemen in 

 Virginia, whose names were not recollectd 

 by our informant. Several pieces weigbe? 

 from 8 lo 10 pounds. 



