60 
Relative Profits to the Farmer from 
46. Pkeston Hows, Whitehaven, Cumberland. 
From my observation and experience, extending over a period of thirty years, 
I do not think that the British farmer, as a rule, has made horse breeding 
profitable. In this county, during a wet summer, I consider every horse has 
five mouths, that is, he destroys as much grass with each foot as he eats ; and 
taking into consideration the risk of barrenness, unsoundness, bad temper, and 
accidents, there is no margin left for a profit if we calculate the average price 
that our colts bring in the market at four-years-old. To breed a colt on good 
land, and feed him moderately upon the produce of the farm, he ought to yield 
20 guineas a year, and (granted that the mare is fruitful and the colt fortunate)i 
the average price of a four-year-old is less than 80 guineas. 
If at any time from babyhood to maturity a cow or a sheep should break a 
leg, or meet with any serious accident, the carcase can be used for food, and 
the animal may be sold for perhaps one-half of its original value to the 
tutcher ; but if a horse meets with a similar accident it is a dead loss ; ther& 
is no salvage. 
I believe that the British and Irish farmers could with profit to themselves- 
breed more cattle and sheep then they do. A great deal depends upon the 
situation and altitude of the farm whether it is more adapted for cattle or 
sheep breeding, but as a rule, it is better to combine the two, and mix the- 
herd and flock together. There are certain herbs which grow in a pasture 
which sheep are fond of, and which cattle nauseate, and vice versa. The 
most profitable class of cattle for this part of the country is the pure-bred 
Shorthorn, or for grazing purposes use a high-bred Shorthorn bull upon 
common dairy cows. The class of sheep that will produce most mutton and 
wool upon a given area of land is the pure-bred Leicester, and the most profit- 
able sheep for grazing purposes is a cross from the high-bred Leicester ram 
and a Cheviot, Herdwick, or Down ewe. In fact, I have never known any 
breed of sheep that could not be improved by the use of a pure Leicester 
ram. 
KoBT. Jeffersox. 
47. Shielhill, Stanley, Peethshire, N.B. 
As a rule I think British farmers could, with profit to themselves, breed 
more stock of all kinds than is done at present. All that is wanted for accom- 
jjlishing that is capital, skill and enterprise on the part of the farmers, with 
some additional security from the landlords for bringing _and keeping up a 
higher standard of cultivation of their lands. 
On high-rented lands, where there is not much pasture, I consider it more 
preferable to buy horses than to breed them. Horses can most profitablj' be 
bred and reared on mixed arable and grazing farms, where there is good bounds 
of rough undulating pastures, with shelter and good keep for the winter. 
Young horses, if they are well attended to, thrive best on the farms on which 
they are reared. Brood-mares, when properly cared for, work on close to their 
time of foaling — when generally the heavy part of farm-work is over. The 
dem.and, and prices paid just now, for good horses encourage a further extension 
in the breeding of them. 
Sheep can be most i)rofitably bred and reared on light cheap-rented land, 
where they have plenty of clean pastures. Cattle thrive and pay best on good 
loamy pasture lands. 
I do not know of any farmer who lias bred horses extensively having taken 
entirely to the breeding of cattle and sheep ; but, as a rule, I can state that 
for the past quarter of a century the breeding of horses has been very much 
