THE MINIATURE TRACK. 197 



histon^ of Palo Alto, and its origin dates back co the 

 spring of 1879. That season Bentonian and Fred 

 Crocker were our most promising yearlings, and, to 

 show their gait, we used to chase them in the paddock 

 where they ran out. ^N'aturally, when they got a-going 

 along one side they would trot right u^) into the corner 

 and then stop. To obviate this we saw that the corners 

 must be rounded off. The next move was to throw up 

 the turns a little, and then to prevent them making 

 short cuts we built a brush fence ten feet from the 

 outer fence of the paddock. Xow we had a miniature 

 track in the crudest form. Soon the colts learned the 

 trick of jumping the brush, and we made another 

 improvement by putting a lovf board fence around in 

 place of the brush, and making a good dirt track. But 

 they also jumped our new fence, and next we struck 

 upon the idea of building a higher fence, with the rail 

 inclined, so that they could " hug it" around and not 

 strike their legs on the posts. So from a rough be- 

 ginning our track was improved and perfected until we 

 have the paddocks of to-day. I need hardly say that 

 with the improvement in the track we improved in our 

 skill in using it, as well as in appreciation of its great 

 value as an invention in training equij^ments. 



We have now two of these miniature tracks at Palo 

 Alto, and to make their form and construction wholly 

 plain to the reader, I supplement my description with 

 clear drawings and plans. These tracks, it will be 

 seen, are laid oif in oval shape like a mile track, with 

 proportionate turns and stretches. The track should 

 be made of soil good for the feet, and should always be 

 kept deep and soft. The turns should be thrown np 



