CHAPTER IX. 



THE BROOD MARE. 



The future of horse breeding in this country 

 is a thing not easy to forecast. Mechanical 

 traction is certainly gaining ground, yet 

 still seems to cause no diminution in the 

 number of horses required for the various 

 uses in which the animal has been from 

 time immemorial employed. With each fresh 

 visit of the country dweller to Town he sees 

 more vehicles propelled by motor-engines 

 running to and fro through the streets of 

 the Metropolis, and more electric trams in 

 its suburbs ; yet the thronging crowd of the 

 horse-drawn carriages appears denser than 

 ever. In a few years, we are constantly 

 assured, the horse will have disappeared from 

 London streets ; in a few decades he will be 



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