ago Mr. William Pitt on the Production and 



Estimate of the Number of Horses kept in England. 



Glasses. No. 



1. Draught horses, employed on roads, rivers, canals, and in mines, 



including cart horses in cities and towns w - lOO.OOO 



2. Coach and chaise horses of all dpscriptions - - iOO,000 



3. Hunters, racers, hackneys, and the army - - 100,000 



4. Miscellaneous horses, to fill up vacancies of all sorts and descrip- 



tions _____ 100,000 



5. Working farm horses. I know that seven such horses are fully 



sufficient for 100 acres of actual tillage, i. e. reckoning only 

 crops and f..llow ; suppose one horse to 14 acres, and seven 

 millions of ncres - - - _ 500,000 



As a proportion of ploughing is now done by oxen, I believe 

 this to be a liberal estimate. 



6. Colts of one and two years old for succession - 100,000 



Total - 1 ,000,000 



From this number I fear no great retrenchment can be made, in any thing like a 

 flourishing state of modern society ; as 50,000 colts, at least, must be bred 

 annually, and the species is by no means prolific, but subject to barrenness, abor- 

 tions, and accidents ; I think that to cover such accidents, 100,000 breeding mares 

 will be required, and that at the same time 100,000 more mares must be in exist- 

 ence, of improper age or form for breeding, as they ought not to breed before six 

 or seven years old, and then the best only should be selected; and 200,000 mares 

 seems to imply 200,000 horses ; 400,000 of the species must therefore be in the 

 farmers' hands, to answer the demand for other uses; the introduction of oxen can 

 therefore only take place so far as to do the work of 100,000 horses. 



Respecting the consumption of landed produce by horses, various estimates have 

 been made, with very different results, and indeed the subject admits of great 

 variation, as depending upon the manner in which they are supported; a young 

 horse, or a play horse at grass, will consume little inore than a beast or ox of the 

 same age; a horse kept in the stable on hay and corn unlimited, comes under a 

 very different denomination. 



