CHARLES BACKMAN AND STONY FORD 



are kept burning which made Napoleon a colossal 

 figure in history." 



Mr. Backman made no attempt to grain cultivate 

 the 700 acres of his farm. He kept all the domain in 

 grass, as he was opposed to contracting the range of 

 the horse. The grass of the undulating lands of 

 Orange County is of the sweet and holding kind and 

 therefore valuable for horse-growing purposes. You 

 want rich fat-forming pastures for the steer that you 

 are getting ready for the shambles, but not for the 

 horse whose success depends upon lung tissue and 

 muscular fibre. We can trace many failures in breed- 

 ing to the absence of knowlege of the quality of grass 

 lands. In his natural state the horse prefers the 

 so-called hard grass of elevated tablelands, and he 

 will not feed on ground that he has soiled. The 

 excrement is deposited in a spot remote from the 

 table where he dines. In this respect he is far more 

 civilized than the ox. If the dam is forced to run 

 on a stale or sour pasture, the poison drawn from 

 her milk will affect the foal. This is something over- 

 looked by too many breeders and they do not take 

 the proper steps to check the multiplication of foals 

 of weak constitution. Mr. Backman was wise in giv- 

 ing plenty of range to his growing horses, and in 

 guarding against the staling of pasture. He believed 

 in breeding-in for the strengthening and perpetua- 

 tion of desirable qualities, but was not always prudent 

 in uniting kindred strains handicapped with infirmity. 



73 



