85 
came to us for their stock and caused a 
drain upon our resources. 
The Commission reported ‘there was 
little doubt that the Queen’s Plates had 
failed to fulfil their purpose ;” but perhaps 
it had been nearer the mark to say that 
the Royal Plates had ceased to fulfil their 
original purpose, owing to the multiplication 
of valuable stakes which reduced the Royal 
hundred-guinea prizes to third-class rank and 
rendered them useless as factors in the 
encouragement of breeding. The Commis- 
sion recommended the abolition of the Royal 
Plates and the application of the money 
thereto devoted to a scheme of Queen’s 
Premiums, under which sound and approved 
thoroughbred sires should stand in specified 
districts and under control of a local com- 
mittee, serve mares at a low fee. The 
scheme was at once adopted, and has 
worked well in practice. 
The year 1896 saw the appointment of the 
Royal Commission to Inquire into the Horse 
Breeding Industry in Ireland. Though the 
enquiry resolved itself into a comparatively 
narrow issue, a very large amount of 
evidence, much of it exceedingly interesting 
and instructive, was recorded. In pursuance 
of their policy of encouraging the breeding 
