170 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



The Iiuliaus of Chili arc said to drink the l)lood of their 

 mares, which arc slain for food, mixed with alcoliolic liquors, 

 when they can be procured. They believe that when they die 

 they will be transferred to a paradise, where they will always be 

 mounted on fine horses and be eternally drunk. 



But, allowing that the flesh of the horse be not eaten, and he 

 becomes at last nearly, or quite, a dead loss, it does not by any 

 means follow that oxen can be profitably kept till six or seven 

 years of age, even though the city butchers will pay a higher 

 price for the beef. 



The English breeders of Short-horn cattle have unquestion- 

 ably discovered the true secret of raising beef most economi- 

 cally. They take the animals which have the greatest aptitude 

 to ripen early, and lay on flesh rapidly, and have them ready 

 for market at three years of age, thus securing both a large 

 profit and a quick return. 



It appears, therefore, that if superior horses command an 

 exorbitant price, or cannot be found, and if it be more eco- 

 nomical to employ horses, or mules, instead of oxen in farm 

 lal)or, these animals ought to be raised in larger numbers and 

 of better quality. 



Before attempting to state in detail the best method of ac- 

 complishing these results, it is necessary to describe briefly 

 those foreign breeds of horses, which seem to surpass our own 

 in any desirable qualities, and, also, to relate the principal facts 

 respecting the best American breeds. 



BREEDS OF HORSES. 



The horses of the Northern States are justly celebrated for 

 their many excellent qualities, and there are very few breeds 

 in other countries which siirpass them in any important partic- 

 ular. The limits of this report will permit the description of 

 only three foreign varieties, viz : The Arabian horse, including 

 under this name the horses of Arabia, Turkey, Persia, and 

 Northern Africa, which are of a similar form and especially 

 adapted for the saddle ; the English Thoroughbred horse, which 

 is a variety of the Arabian, improved and enlarged by careful 

 culture ; and the Clydesdale horse, which is the best draught 

 horse in the world. These are the only foreign breeds at all 

 essential in the improvement of our own, and of these the 



