CART-HORSES 127 



a larerer bone. The height of a Suffolk horse varies from 

 15f to 17 hands, but 16J is all that a good one ought 

 to be. . . . 



" The girth of a Suffolk horse behind the shoulders 

 should be about 8 feet. Two inches short of this would 

 not be looked upon as a hght fore-rib, but anything further 

 that way would begin to attract notice. ... In temper 

 they are docile in the extreme. . . . For the first three-and- 

 twenty years of the Royal Society existence the prize was 

 offered for ' the best horse for agricultural purposes,' and 

 the various breeds took their chances among specimens 

 representing every variety (1839-1861). Of these twenty- 

 three first prizes fourteen went to Suffolk horses, and the 

 remaining nine represented the united success of all the 

 other breeds which competed. ... In addition to these, 

 more than half the second prizes awarded during the same 

 period went to Suffolk horses." 



It should be added this breed weighs well for its height, 

 ranging from 1,900 lbs. to 2,240 lbs. (1 ton). 



Since that time the Society has thought it wiser to 

 separate the breeds, and prizes have been given for the 

 best Shire, Clydesdale, &c., most certainly a preferable 

 plan. But in all that constitutes a farmer's horse, a 

 hardy, strong-constitutioned, docile, staunch, active animal, 

 a Suffolk horse is very bad to beat, be the others what they 

 may. As a Suffolk breeder the reputation of Sir Cuthbert 

 Quilter is now world-wide, and Mr. Smith of Wood- 

 bridge, Mr. Clark of Sudbourne, and Mr. Arthur Pratt 

 of Morston Hall, Trimley, stand forth as champions of 

 the breed at the present day ; amongst their staunch 

 friends of the past the late Duke of Hamilton, the late 

 Earl of Stradroke, and the late Sir Edward Kerrison did 

 a great deal for the Suffolks, but without the arduous labour 

 of Mr. Hermon Biddell in compiling the Stud Book of the 

 Society, which brought him such renown, the history of the 

 Suffolk horse might still be incomplete, and to his researches 

 much of the present fame and success of the breed is due. 



