CONDITION OF TEACK. 417 



come to the foreground of this inimitable picture, what 

 perfect keeping there is in the " filling up !" The field of 

 tasseling corn on our left seems a continuation of the 

 coppice beyond it, the broad luxuriant leaves deflecting 

 from the stalk, and falling back in curves superior to Ho- 

 garth's line of beauty, and giving an Oriental appearance 

 to the view, heightened by the group of sumachs, with 

 their palm-like leaves and scarlet cones. That field of 

 ripening grain appears as if it had retained the yellow 

 sunbeams in which it has been bathed, while the air is 

 filled with the perfume of the woodbines and honeysuckles 

 that drape the cottage porch, and hang in festoons about 

 the windows. The morning is as favorable as we could have 

 for horses to go fast; and if the track is in corresponding 

 condition, the time made will not be a safe criterion to 

 guide us, in estimating the ability of the horses to perform, 

 when things are not so favorable. 



PUPIL. The track is good, though not so fast as it might 

 be, as I have had the whole of it harrowed the inside 

 very lightly thinking it would be better for the trotters, 

 and I could not bear to see the horse you sent up gallop- 

 ing on ground that had no loose dirt to deaden the con- 

 cussion. 



PEECEPTOE. You have made a hit in preparing it, as I 

 am very partial to a thin coating of loose earth, even for 

 trotting purposes; and though it is undoubtedly slower than 

 a smooth, hard surface, it is fast enough faster than 

 many would think who had not tried a horse on a similiar 

 course. There is just the right amount of soil to fill the 

 inner part of the foot, forming a sort of a cushion, which 

 will take a great deal of the jar off, and a horse will there- 

 fore extend himself freely, gaining in that way nearly as 

 much as he looses by the added draught of the wheels 

 running over a yielding surface. It will be as well that 

 the horses have a short walk before driving, and have a 



