1861. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



369 







THE CLYDESDALE HOUSE. 



In the Report of the Secretary of the Massa- 

 chusetts Board of Agriculture, for 1860, we find 

 the cut of the Clydesdale Horse, which we pre- 

 sent herewith, together with the description of 

 the breed given by the Secretary. The Suffolk 

 Punch, or English Cart Horse, has long held a 

 great reputation as being the most powerful 

 draught horse in the world. The Clydesdale 

 seems to combine quickness of motion with great 

 strength. 



This horse has long been bred with great care 

 and uniformity in that portion of Scotland which 

 also enjoys the enviable reputation of producing 

 the best dairy cattle in the world, namely, the 

 counties of Ayr, Dumfries, Renfrew and Lanark. 

 They derive their name from the river Clyde, 

 which flows through Lanarkshire, where they are 

 very numerous. This breed, like the Morgan, is 

 the natural result of the peculiar circumstances 

 of its location, and has been developed by a fa- 

 vorable combination of soil and climate with the 

 necessities of an enterprising people. In this 

 region, celebrated for its extensive coal mines and 

 prosperous manufactures, as well as for its agri- 

 cultural thrift, large numbers of powerful horses 

 are constantly employed in hauling heavy freight, 

 and the farmers have wisely and successfully en- 

 deavored to produce upon their own soil the ani- 

 mal best adapted to the work. 



The Clydesdale horse is about sixteen hands in 



height, and weighs from twelve hundred to six- 

 teen hundred pounds. The most common colors 

 are black, brown, bay and gray. They are suffi- 

 ciently spirited and courageous, but intelligent, 

 willing, free from vice, and very true, steady pull- 

 ers. Their heads are small and often beautiful, 

 their necks arched, and their legs and feet re- 

 mai'kably good, being of excellent shape, sub- 

 stantial and durable. They are superior travel- 

 lers, for large horses, and especially famous for 

 their rapid walk, and being often handsome and 

 stylish, they are frequently employed as carriage 

 and stout saddle horses. 



Professor Low, in his admirable work, "The 

 Domesticated Animals of the British Islands," 

 says : "The long stride characteristic of this 

 breed is partly the result of conformation, and 

 partly of habit and training ; but, however pro- 

 duced, it adds greatly to the usefulness of the 

 horses both on the road and in the fields. No 

 such loads are known to be drawn at the same 

 pace by any horses in the kingdom as in the sin- 

 gle horse-carts of carriers and others in the west 

 of Scotland ; and in the labor of the fields these 

 horses are found to combine activity with the 

 physical strength required for draught." 



On the whole, the Clydesdale horses seem to 

 be as distinct a breed, and as peculiarly adapted 

 to New England as are the Ayrshire cattle ; and 

 it is to be hoped that some of our wealthy breed- 

 ers of horses will distinguish themselves, and 

 benefit the country, by the importation of choice 

 stallions and mares of this valuable stock. 



