62 farmers' a^d mechanics' journal. 



In England, they consider what kind of a Horse they wish to 

 rear, and then employ such a breed as they wish the colt to be of. 

 They have long since, laid aside the custom of putting one horse 

 to every kind of work. They have distinct breeds for distinct pur- 

 poses, and their character is so well fixed, that they can calculate, 

 with tolerable certainty, the qualities of the future colt. Perhaps 

 it would not be profitable for us to follow them in all of the several 

 breeds ; but, we do think it advisable to have two, or three, whose 

 character shall be fixed, or which shall be, in the language of the 

 English breeders, " rocll brcd^'''' rather than to follow on in the old 

 course, — hap hazard^ trusting altogether to luck and chance, re- 

 specting the qualities of the Horse about to be reared. 



Sir, — In my last communication, for " relaxations of luxury," 

 read " emulations," he, a very different thing ; in the eighth para- 

 graph, as it is printed, for "• last observation," read " last observa- 

 tion in the last sentence ;" for " ditferent," read " unnatural ;" 

 for " caries of the bones ; — which are," read " caries of the bones 

 of the foot ; which appear to be ;" there should have been no 

 dashes : from " The peculiar" to '' Country of Virginia," should 

 be an integral paragraph ; read " question of foot lameness" for '* the 

 management ;" for " brought from the Desert," read " bought ;" 

 for the Suffolk sorrel's " country," read " County ;" and at the 

 commencement of that paragraph there should be no " But." I 

 will now give you a few observations upon Breeding a Horse in 

 Massachusetts, and will endeavor to express myself in the distinct- 

 est manner possible. 



Where hay and pasture are so dear, a farmer can afford to breed 

 from nothing but the right mare ; or the horse will eat, three times 

 in four, more money than he will ever be worth, before he sheds a 

 tooth. In England, a mare is covered, with a design that she shall 

 produce a particular horse ; and it is not common for any horse 

 but the thorough-bred one to be used for any purpose but that for 

 which he is bred. He, if not gifted with superior speed, is hunted ; 

 ridden on tlie road ; or galloped till his strength is consumed, in a 

 stage coach. Breeding from many of our mares is a < ertain loss. 

 The right one is a thick little mare, fourteen hands three inches 

 high, with as much speed as is compatible with an adaptation for 

 moderately heavy draught. Two things are indispensable. She 

 must be perfectly sound in her feet ; or unsound distinctly from 

 accident, very improper treatment, or external disease, and she 

 must have a wide chest. She may, comparatively, be spavined ; 

 ring-boned ; or even blind ; but 1 am so convinced of a predisposi- 

 tion to the disease which is the common cause of foot-lameness be^ 

 ing frequently hereditary, that, if the cause of it were not evident- 

 ly as above-mentioned, I would not take as a gift the finest colt, 

 bred from a mare suffering from foot-lameness. What sort of foot 

 is the most likely to remain uninjured by the severe concussion 



