NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



267 



. - h;ul nt\y tiling to do with these questions. 



Ill TO i'' liiit one Trustee on ii Committee, and 



• unlinariiy i(ivos no o[)inion. Tlia persons 

 ho decide are farmers, and persons who put 



) cattle tor beef. A man who buys 500 oxen 



a vear, handles them, and has them cut up, 

 u-t be a better judge than any practical far- 

 o[ owning 20 or M head of cattle. Such prac- 

 ral purchasers are not apt to mistake a long, 

 Ilk, raw-boned animal tor a profitable one. 



We are happy to tuid that we agree entirely 

 ith the Old Colony Farmer in the princifiex 

 hich should *ovcrn us. The only question is 

 ic of fact, whether we have acted up to our 



inciplcs? This rests, not upon the Trustees, 

 jt «n the gentlemen selected I'or their skill. — 



is true that the crosses from foreign breeds 

 lYO been generally prefened, but it was be- 

 lusc (not the Trustees) but the committee of 



lependeiit Farmers thought them generally 

 ;tter formed — of finer, and more delicate limbs 



better ad.ipted to fatten, and on the ivliole 

 ler animals, than the native ones offered at the 

 me time. So far is it from being generally 

 ue, that these animals were more huge or 

 •ergrown, it is a fact, that the native bull? 

 ere of'ten much the most gross, heavy and 

 larse. It should be recollected, that almost 



erv premium has been awarded either to na- 



■e animals, or to those of half-blood, one par- 

 it being native. 



The only object of these remarks is to pro- 

 ote the cause of truth, and to remove unfoun^- 

 I prejudices. 

 2'he Chairman of the Committee on Premiums 

 for Cattle., at the last Brighton Shozi:. 



) THE EDITOR or THE XEW E.NX.LAXD FARMER. 



Dear 8!R— How is it that tlie Trustees ol" tlie Mas- 

 husctts Society for promoting; Agriculture, do not en- 

 ua?e tlic breeding; of that useful aninia] the Horse — 

 an eiKjniry frequently made, particularly by the 

 ■nds of the Turf. One of Mr. ]-.o\veirs reasons was 

 itself conclusive — that no encouragement was ncc- 

 ary, for j;ood horses would command a °:reat price 

 anv market in the United States. On reading the 

 ler'ican Farmer of Feb. '28th, No. 40, vol. 1, p. 390, 

 bserre a Virginian addresses the Editor on the breed- 

 • of horses in that state, and furnishes a precious con- 

 sion of facts ; if you think as well of it as t do, wish 

 i would give it a place iu your next paper, and 

 Ige your friend and bumble servant, 



GORHAM PARSON'S. 

 Brishton, March 10, 1S23. 



From tlie American Farmer. 



J'irginia, Fehntary Wth. 

 Mr. Skccnt-r — The symptoms of a revival in 

 e long laid spirit of the turf, together with 

 veral pieces, which have appeared in the 

 iblic prints, upon the improvement of our 

 ick of horses, setting forth erroneous views 

 the subject, as 1 conceive, will be my apol- 

 ■y for troubling you with the following re- 

 jrks, for the American Farmer, should you 

 em them worthy a place in its columns. 

 Perhaps the novelty of the opinion, that the 

 5te and passion for racing, so far from contri- 

 iting to, has retarded the progress of improve- 

 ent in our horses, may attract some curiosity ; 

 it, when it is stated further, to be an opm- 

 ;i deliberately formed, upon an experience of 

 enty year's breeding, commenced under the 

 U impression, that' the English race hor.se was 

 e perfection of the species, 1 may hope for 

 patient reading, from all whose minds are 

 en to conviction. 



The essential pouits of the English turf horse, 

 are, a thin :uul deep shoulder, narrow breast, 

 ilelicale clean legs, long in tlie pasterns, a 

 broad or wide hock well let down, and a thigh 

 or haunch more remarkable for length than 

 bulk. \ long back more common than a short 

 one, and a body oftoner flat sided than round — 

 and, finally, the taller the better, hot not less 

 than sixteen hands, for a first rate courser. 

 This carcass and set of limbs is covered by a 

 skin so thin and a coat of hair so fine, as to ex- 

 press the very veins as well as the muscles, be- 

 neath the delicate integument. 



.\ long, low, slouching carriage, in every gait, 

 follows as a consequence of the above form and 

 proportions. The very best calculated, truly, 

 for a four mile heat, on a smooth course, but 

 that it is totally unsuiled to the road, I will use 

 no other argument to prove, than one which all 

 sagacious readers will have deduced already 

 from the premises, if it were rvot esta!)lished by 

 the known general rule, that " a race horse is 

 a ?tumbler."' 



Fqually disqualified by the nature of his skin, 

 is he for the harness — the slightest pressure 

 producing a gall — and as unsuited are his long 

 legs and limber pasterns to the frequently dcci) 

 stale, and irregular surface of our roads, that a 

 horse of compact form au 1 nimble movements, 

 with a strong coat on his back and shoulders, and 

 not within a hand of his height, will always be 

 found more lasting and serviceable, fltoreover, 

 the running stock arc frequently vicious and un- 

 manageable, and very generally so shy and tim- 

 id, as to render Ihem in a great degree unfit for 

 the purpose of war. In England, the.horses of 

 this strain, arc rarely used, but to contribute to 

 the most ruinous and expensive of their pleas- 

 ures* — and I am strongly inclined to the opin- 

 ion, that the highest style of the English race 

 horse, which it has been a very prevalent fblh 

 with us to take as our model, is a forced anom- 

 aly in the species, introduced and propagated by 

 a prodigality of attention and expense, such as 

 the enormous wealth of the nobility of England 

 is alone able to sustain. 



The noble animal to be cherished as the 

 companion of our manly pleasures and glorious 

 achievements, should be of the form for power, 

 docile and courageous In his temper, quick, firm 

 and clear in his movements. These proper- 

 ties are found for the most part connected with 

 roundness of contour and strength of articula- 

 tion ; with a texture of skin and strength of 

 coat, which will bear the pressure of the sad- 

 dle and the friction of the harness ; and as far 

 as my experience has gone, it is rare, that you 

 find a horse of this description exceeding fif- 

 teen hands and a half high. All the finest hors- 

 es in the world, may be traced to the Arabian 

 stock. The English race horse Is of Arabian 

 descent, with the peculiar objections above de- 

 scribed, but whicli 1 am happy in believing, the 

 Author of Nature has kindfy decreed shall nev- 

 er be made indigenous to our soil and climate. 

 The English blooded stock, tho' kept pure and 

 uncrossed, essentially change their characters 

 after a few generations in our climate, and man- 

 ifestly for the better, as to every rational and 

 useful purpose. The native \'irginia horse of 

 the third and fourth generation, from the light 

 and washy figures of the purest English stock, 



* It may be safely asserted, that racing Ixas put more 

 of the estates of the Englisli nobility to uurse, than any 

 other siugle cause. 



become less tall, with more bulk, shorter and 

 stronger jointed, with a thicker and coarser 

 coat; with Ihese changes, there is a correspon- 

 dent one in gaits and carriage. They are 

 more active and sprightly in their movements, 

 and better able to stand the vicissitudes of our 

 climale. Our food, our climate, and our man- 

 agement are quite sufFicient to account for 

 these changes. Our maize, w hich forms three- 

 fourths of the grain fed to our horses, in the 

 parls of the slates below the mountains, (where 

 our best horses are found.) is by far more nu- 

 tricious than tho oafs of Europe, oi- any other 

 grain used for the food of" horses in any other 

 country. Our ujuog horses arc more exposed 

 to the weather, and when taken in hand are 

 not put into close and warm stables, and ciotbed, 

 as is generally the case in Englaiui. 



It is a fact well known to the a;natcurs in this 

 favourite -aninial of the X'irginians, that we 

 abounded much more in a tine race of horses 

 for the saddle and the harness thirty years ago 

 than at this day. This \w:\s jirecisely the pe- 

 riod when the descendints.of some of the best 

 of the Englisli slock which had been early im- 

 ported into the colony, had become acciHiiafeJ 

 and fully naturalized — and I have but little doubt 

 had we proceeded upon the rational plan of 

 breeding solely with an eye to qualities for ser- 

 vice, rather th.m the >vorsc than useless prop- 

 erties for the turf, Virginia would now have 

 had the most valuable race of horses in the 

 world ; but uufbrtunatoly, almut twenty five or 

 thirty years ago, the late Colonel Htonies, of 

 Bowling Green, of well known racing memoiy, 

 and many others, availing themselves of the 

 passion for racing, inundated the state with im- 

 ported English race horses, well nigh to the ex- 

 tinclion of the good old stocks of Janus, and 

 Fearnaught, and .lolly Fioger, and Mark An- 

 llionj', and Selini, and Peacock, and many oth- 

 er but little less tried and approved racers. 

 The dillicully of getting a tine saddle horse has 

 of late become a general remark ; and when 

 you do find one, with the exception of now and 

 then a Diomed or Bedford cross, you rarely 

 hear of any other of the late Imported blood in 

 his veins. The descendants of Cormorant, and 

 Sterling, and Spread Eagle, and Seagull, and 

 Buzzard, and Dare Devil, and Oscar, and Sal- 

 trum, and twenty others which might be added, 

 are either extinct or still languisliing through 

 the probationary term of over pampered cxot- 

 icks — such as have the stamina to go through 

 the trial and become naturalized to corn and 

 fodder in log stables, may form the basis of 

 some future good stock ; but, I dare say, we 

 shall never hear of many of them again. UpoQ 

 this subject, few perhaps, have had more, ex- 

 perience than the author of this communication ; 

 having labored under the racing mama for a 

 term of years, that almost reduced him to a 

 race of worthless garrans, though none of their 

 distinguished dams cost him less than a hundred 

 guineas a piece, and were certified for, through 

 an uncontaminated succession of famous English 

 ancestors down to the Godolphin Arabian. For- 

 tuuately, however, about twelve years ago, I 

 becaoie convinced of my delusion, and since I 

 have been endeavoring to get back to the well 

 known old stocks, and breeding exclusively 

 with a view to useful qualities, the result has 

 answered my most sanguine hopes. 



One of your constant readers, v:ilh a feiH 

 iliare of Virginia fondness for horses. 



