HOW TO MAKE MONEY BY HOESES. 17 



he "Would not have discrimination enough to see 

 that his young bargain, though perhaps a very good 

 three years' old, had become a positive beast at four ; 

 he would pertinaciously adhere to his conviction, 

 tliat a colt having eaten corn and hay for twelve 

 months, must be, to say the least, all that corn and 

 hay the better. I know of no quadruped who varies 

 with time so much as the horse. The ox, from feed- 

 ing, will, in almost all cases, become the more valuable, 

 the horse often does the very reverse — that is, when 

 in a growing state ; though when arrived at maturit}', 

 good care, in nineteen instances in twenty, is sure to 

 improve him, that is, if he were in a bad state before. 

 Our troops purchase horses at a very early age, and 

 it has been found to answer the purposes of govern- 

 ment to do so ; but let the reader bear in mind that 

 such young stock undergoes the ordeal of inspection, 

 not only of a competent judge, but of several, and 

 the judgment of veterinarians also ; so his promising 

 points, size, or the probable size that he may be ex- 

 pected to grow to, and his action, are not only de- 

 liberated upon, but care is taken that there is no 



c 



