2 HORSES AND HOUNDS. 



as are generally found in tlieir possession, the value of wliich 

 rarely exceeds thirty pounds ; but, as many writers on the horse 

 have assumed, tliat the Equine race thrive best in genial lati- 

 tudes, there is no reason why as good animals should not be 

 raised in the south, as in the north of England ; in fact, as far 

 as climate is concerned, the southern parts of the country ought 

 to surpass the northern in the production of this kind of stock. 

 But the real cause of failure lies in the breed and form of the 

 brood mares, and the little attention paid to their offspring. 

 Were farmers to pay as much attention to the selection of pro- 

 per animals for this purpose, as they do to their other kinds of 

 farm stock, the result would be very different. I have known 

 from twenty to thirty guineas given bj^ farmers of enterprise 

 for good three-year old heifers of the short-horned, or Durham 

 breed ; and from fifty to ninety guineas for a yearling bull of 

 the same sort. Good Leicester and Southdown rams often sell 

 from thirty to one hundred pounds. But if you w^ere to advise 

 a man to lay out thirty or forty pounds, or even twenty, in the 

 purchase of a clever well-bred brood mare, he would tell joii 

 that " he should never see his money again." And why not ? 

 Let him only pay the same attention to his horse, as he does to 

 his cow, or sheep stock, and I will answer for it that he is not 

 disappointed, supposing, of course, that he is a man of sound 

 judgment. Let us just compare the cost of raising and fatten- 

 ing a Durham bullock, which is to be handed over to the 

 butcher at three years old, with that of a four-year old colt, put- 

 ting the prime cost of their dams at the same price. I am not 

 going to recommend any extraordinary care or expenses, well 

 knowing that I should, on that account, be met in limine with 

 the old reply — " It wont pay." Well, then, we will endeavour 

 to point out what tvill pay, v/ithout building expensive loose 

 boxes, making fine paddocks, and feeding upon an unlimited 

 quantity of oats and beans all the year round. This system 

 we must allow to remain where it is at present, and is likely 

 to continue, with gentlemen amateurs, and breeders for the 

 turf. To agriculturists generally it would be a mere waste 

 of paper to recommend any such plan, except in a very modi- 

 fied degree. More on this subject I reserve for masters of 

 foxhounds, and sporting men, who supply their studs from 

 their own stock. A Durham calt, to be reared to a large size, 

 will consume the whole of its mother s milk up to a certain 

 period, and when weaned will require, as a substitute, a good 

 allowance of linseed tea, or mucilage. Tlie foal will subsist for 

 two or three months upon its mother's milk, with what grass it 

 ca.n pick up whilst at pasture. The keep of a mare and cow in 



