of his paper: " It is an admitted fact that the true- 

 bred EngHsh hunter, hack, carriage, and draught- 

 horse cannot be equalled in any other country." May 

 I ask him the simple and straightforward question, 

 Is it owing to climatic considerations that England 

 is superior to any other country, or is it due to any 

 other cause ? If not, I suppose the explanation 

 would mainly be that given by other gentlemen 

 who state that our best mares have been taken 

 out of the country by the higher prices given for 

 them. The second observation I wish to make is 

 with reference to the formation of a stud-book for 

 horses. I have had no experience myself in breeding 

 thoroughbred horses, but some years ago, in con- 

 nection with my late father, I had a good deal to 

 do with the breeding of cart-horses and shorthorns. 



The remark I am about to make may be con- 

 sidered heresy by Mr. Thornton, but I think that in 

 dealing with horses the judgment of sensible men 

 would be that really no horse ought to be eligible for 

 entry unless he has won a prize somewhere or other ; 

 because, if you allow a horse to be entered on 

 the strength of his blood only, you may have an 

 unlimited number of bad ones in your book. 



As to shorthorns, we know that all animals which 

 have three generations of pure blood in them may be 

 entered in the books, and several practical men who 

 have looked at this subject from a scientific point of 

 view have come to the conclusion that it would be 

 better if we were stricter as regards the rules as to 



