4 GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF 



as obvious to the initiated as size is to the 

 general eye. If size is wanted, we can get 

 size (nay, we are getting it, for all kinds of 

 stock are bigger now than they used to be), 

 but we should aim to get it gradually, not 

 all at once. 



This is true of other things : in ship- 

 building for instance. The Great Eastern 

 was a costly and gigantic failure, and for 

 the reason that she was an anachronism. 

 Gradually we have worked up to vessels 

 of her size (the Oceanic is somewhat larger) 

 but they have not been failures, because 

 strength and speed have advanced in equal 

 ratio with size and tonnage. 



Now, if we breed horses for mere size, we 

 make just the same mistake, and the result is 

 a huge overgrown brute, soft and clumsy 

 as a rule, and nearly always deficient in that 

 quality and "character" which alone make 

 the horse a desirable companion, or pleasant 

 to use. We must, of course, breed carefully 



