Xll LETTER FROM JOSEPH CAIRN SIMPSON. 



in the East it was found necessary to put hurdles across the track to 

 compel that the work should be limited to short brushes. That Mr. 

 Marvin was not imbued with such silly notions was fortunate all 

 around. Fortunate for Governor Stanford to get a man who could 

 understand what he wanted done, and with ability to execute ; 

 fortunate for himself by being placed in a position where his talents 

 could be shown ; fortunate for the horse interests of California, and, 

 for that matter, for the whole country, by introducing methods of 

 management which had been tested by the only true formula, years 

 of patient, indefatigable work. Results have not been confined to 

 " beating the record " so frequently. Nor has the limit been reached 

 when the many races he won are brought together. Horses bred at 

 Palo Alto are prominent in every State Avhich pays much attention to 

 the breeding of fast trotters. Celebrated at home and abroad, for 

 qualities which are prized by purchasers, they find ready sale at 

 prices which, a few years ago, would have been regarded as far 

 beyond the value of any horse. And these values have not been 

 confined to a few of the produce of sires and dams still owned at Palo 

 Alto. 



Fifty-one thousand, fifty thousand, twenty thousand dollars, and 

 with a number more, ranging from five to twenty thousand dollars, 

 money actually paid, is the best proof of their market value. Large 

 offers reported are delusive. It is easy to make offers which have 

 prearranged refusals for a basis, and which carry small influence 

 with close observers ; but money paid and animals transferred pre- 

 clude all ideas of humbug, and is a stamp of merit which rabid 

 jealousy cannot successfully impugn. 



Next to Governor Stanford, Mr. Marvin must be credited with 

 bringing about this result. As stated j^reviously, the willingness to 

 learn is one of the most praiseworthy traits in his character. 



Relinquishing old and firmly-set habits is a difficult task, and to 

 give up cherished ideas a mark of intelligence. 



Before being competent to teach, a man must have been a pupil. 

 After having passed through one educational course, it is still more 

 difficult to cast aside the lessons of that, and practice what previous 

 teachings had classed in the category of errors. 



Then, too, it must be borne in mind that when Mr. Marvin became 

 the pupil of Governor Stanford, the course marked out was com- 

 paratively untried. There had been, perhaps, an approximation to 

 the systems inaugurated at Palo Alto, but without a practical test 



