THE LONDON HORSE AT HOME 101 



experiences of the sale-rooms, the donkey-mart at 

 Islington, and the export and import trade. In spite 

 of the imports from Poland, Finland, Holland, and even 

 America, and the pony trade with the Baltic, our export 

 of horses enormously exceeds the import in value. A 

 three years' total gives 2,532,000 of exports, as against 

 804,000 of imports, and the quality and price of 

 English horses rise steadily. The imports do not in- 

 clude those from Ireland, which until recently supplied 

 the entire Belgian Army with remounts, and at present 

 largely fill the ranks of London cab-horses. They 

 fetch on the average about 30 a-piece ; and as a new 

 hansom-cab costs 100, the hirer enjoys the temporary 

 use of a capital of 130, and the services of the driver. 

 But the number of cabs steadily decreases, and, from 

 the horses' point of view, this decline is hardly to be 

 deplored. 



