98 A TREATISE ON HORSE-BREEDING. 



kinds of grain; but if all the resources of our 

 country were directed toward producing wheat 

 to the neglect of other grains we should very 

 soon find the market overstocked and the busi- 

 ness unprofitable. And so, when everybody 

 catches the draft-horse fever we have, after a 

 while, an oversupply of heavy horses and prices 

 go down. There is room for all, and a steady 

 demand at good prices for good specimens of 

 each type of horses; and breeders of the best of 

 any breed need have no fears of a serious de- 

 cline in prices for such animals. 



There are several styles of horses that sell 

 well at present; and, in the breeding of any of 

 these, farmers may, under favorable circum- 

 stances, engage, with a fair prospect of finding 

 the business profitable. First, and highest- 

 priced, are the very fast trotters and runners; 

 but these very fast ones are not produced with 

 certainty by even the most experienced breed- 

 ers, with the best of breeding stock to work 

 upon and the best of trainers to develop them; 

 and it must be borne in mind, likewise, that it 

 is only the fastest among the fast ones that 

 bring exceptional prices. But there is a fasci- 

 nation about it which attracts many gentle- 

 men of wealth and leisure to the business, the 

 question of profit and loss being with them a 

 secondary consideration. It affords them en- 

 joyment and recreation, and it is indulged in 



