SO The Horse Farmer. 



erations, not only * diminishes the size of the animal, 

 but affects the character and form of his body, head, 

 and limbs. Thus, if a London dray horse be conveyed 

 to Arabia, and subjected to the same influences to 

 which the native breed of that country is exposed, hi 

 the course of some generations he will present the 

 leading characters of the Arabian horse. On the con- 

 trary, if the race thus changed be conveyed again to 

 England, in the course of several generations, it will 

 gradually acquire the properties it formerly possess- 

 ed. This fact would seem to prove that the Ara- 

 bian horse cannot exist in perfection in any of the 

 northern or western countries of Europe, and that the 

 humidity of the climate and the influence indirectly 

 arising from that cause, are the principal reasons of this 

 change. Similar instances might be given in reference 

 to the changes which have been observed in the sheep, 

 the goat, and the hog. The former, when subjected 

 to the climate of the West Indies, from Thibet, Spain, 

 or Vermont, where their fleeces are fine, delicate, and 

 soft, after a few years are entirely covered with rough, 

 coarse hair, resembling that of the goat. 



Breeding should be conducted with some definite 

 object in view. There is no greater error than the 

 common remark of some farmers, of some wretched 

 under-sized, ewe-necked, cat-hammer wreck of a mare, 

 broken-winded, ring-boned, and spavined, "Oh, she' 

 will do to raise a colt out of!" She will do ! but what 

 will the colt be ? It will not be worth the mare's grass, 

 let alone the price of the stallion's service. But it is 

 a good feature that there is a growing anxiety among 

 formers to raise valuable stock. This is attributable to 



