PREFACE vii 



contrast the pouter with the fan-tail, the barb, the short-faced tumbler, or 

 the jacobin, all of which are historically known to have descended from one 

 and the same ancestral form. The differences extend throughout the whole 

 bony framework as well as throughout the muscular and nervous systems, and 

 exceed in amount the differences by which naturalists often adjudge species 

 to be distinct. Through what agency has man produced such results as 

 these ? He has produced them simply by taking advantage of a slight ten- 

 dency to variation which exists perpetually in all plants and animals, and 

 which exhibits itself in the simple fact that nowhere do we ever find any two 

 individuals exactly alike. Taking advantage of these individual variations, 

 the breeder simply selects the individuals which best suit his purpose, and 

 breeds them apart by themselves. The qualities for which they are selected 

 are propagated and enhanced through inheritance and renewed selection in 

 each succeeding generation, until by the slow accumulation of small differ- 

 ences a new race is formed. And thus we have peaches and almonds from 

 a common source, grapes to eat and grapes to make wine of, pointer dogs 

 and mastiffs, and so on throughout the list of cultivated plants and domesti- 

 cated animals." 



It should not be forgotten that Nature herself is the great breeder, not 

 only entailing inheritances, or creating with prepotent force, but also making 

 her own selections through the great law of the survival of the fittest. 



But if man can get what he breeds for it is very evident that he should 

 breed for the best. In late years the principal efforts of American breeders 

 of horses of the roadster class have been directed to produce the fastest 

 trotter or pacer. These efforts have been remarkably successful, but 

 certain results of form, style and uniformity have been largely overlooked 

 or sacrificed. It would seem to be full time when a higher aim should be 

 attempted. Not the fastest horse, but the best horse, should be the object of 

 breeding. For him who achieves this standard there will be abundance of 

 room. To meet this want THE MORGAN REGISTER has been established. Its 

 object, also, is to produce this horse as a type, so that in every colt we shall 

 be reasonably sure to get the horse we want. And the means used are what 

 are believed to be a necessary means for such result, a blood basis, which 

 will permit the great law of nature to operate, of "like producing like." 



In this best horse constitution, form, style, disposition, intelligence 

 and beauty are all to be considered. A cheerful disposition for work is 

 very essential ; a truly satisfactory roadster needs no whip. 



We have not in what we have written intended to diparage the great 

 quality of speed. The perfect horse should be the fastest horse. But 

 we should not accept speed, no matter how great, unless combined with 

 the other qualities essential to the perfect horse. It is, of course, more 

 difficult to produce all the desired qualities than a single one of them, but 

 it is easily within the great law of breeding, and therefore should be done. 



In speed, too, as well as in superiority of form, style, intelligence and 

 beauty, the Morgan horse has always excelled. Because of it, in part, has 

 come his great reputation as a roadster ; and while perhaps a certain type 



