236 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



DISEASES. 



Information respecting the diseases of horses and their 

 remedies may be obtained from some one of the numerous 

 works upon veterinary science, none of which perhaps is better 

 adapted for general use than that standard English treatise, 

 " The Horse, by William Youatt." A revised and enlarged 

 edition, by E. N. Gabriel, was published in London in 1&59, 

 which, besides a chapter upon " Draught," contains a very 

 complete account, Avith many illustrations, of the appearance of 

 the teeth at dilTerent ages. 



STATISTICS. 



The number of horses in the Commonwealth in 1850 was 

 seventy-four thousand and sixty, and in 1860, ninety thousand 

 seven hundred and twelve, showing an increase of more than 

 twenty-two per cent. ; while the number of working oxen 

 diminished in the same time more than twenty-seven per cent. 

 It is to be regretted that the census statistics do not inform us 

 how many colts were foaled in the State in any one year, or 

 what proportion of our horses were imported from Canada, 

 Vermont, New York, Pennsylvania, and other States. It is 

 certain, however, that the majority of our horses are bred out 

 of Massachusetts, and that a vast amount of money is annually 

 carried abroad, for the purchase of horses, much of which 

 ought to be retained at liome l)y our farmers as the reward of 

 their industry. By proper attention to the raising of horses, 

 both the farmers, and all others, who employ them for business 

 or pleasure, might be furnished with much more valuable 

 animals at a more reasonable price. 



In conclusion, your Committee are impressed with the belief 

 that the subjects discussed in this report, relating to tlie im- 

 provement of our breeds of horses, and the proper methods of 

 feeding, shoeing, grooming, and educating them so as to render 

 them as pleasant, intelligent, beautiful, useful and durable as 

 possible, are well worthy of consideration, and only regret their 

 inability to perform in a more satisfactory manner the important 

 task assifj;ned them. 



