Breeding, Rearing, and Feeding Horses, Cattle, and Sheep. 81 
Summary. 
A few of the gentlemen who took the trouble to answer the 
aueries stipulated that their names should not appear in the 
leports. Consequently their replies are not printed among the 
rest, and I need not quote from , them in the summing up, as 
without the names the opinions have little value. Most of the 
correspondents use such expressions as " I am of opinion," " I 
believe," and " I think ;" therefore it should be understood that 
their opinions, &c., are founded on their personal experience 
and observation. Summarising the evidence, and giving also 
my own views and experience, I begin with 
Horses. — Not the least interesting and instructive feature of 
the foregoing Reports is the reference to the breeding and rear- 
ing of horses. On no point of the inquiry do the reporters 
speak so emphatically as on that relating to hunting-, carriage-, 
or saddle-horses. All the gentlemen who have given their ex- 
perience, and many more to whom I have spoken on the subject, 
agree that the breeding and rearing of horses, other than purely 
agricultural, cannot be carried on by ordinary farmers with 
profit. This fact in itself is weighty testimony in favour of 
Lord Calthorpe's scheme, which, however, appears to have up-hill 
work. It will be seen by the reports of Messrs. John B. Booth, 
Finlay Dun, Thos. Forster, T. H. Hutchinson, G. A. Gray, 
and others who are well qualified to speak authoritatively, that 
instead of the rearing of field-horses being a profitable business 
for the British farmer, it has hitherto been a losing game, and 
many have given it up ; hence, no doubt, the growing scarcity 
and cost of such horses. At first sight one would think that the 
extraordinary prices paid for good thoroughbred hunting- and 
carriage-horses should pay the breeder and rearer handsomely. 
Not so, however. This sort of stock is not only the most risky 
usually on the farm, but the animals are long in coming into the 
market, and so afford a slow as well as often a meagre return for 
the capital, keep, and labour involved. Moreover, young horses, 
especially of this stamp, are troublesome to other stock in the 
parks, and are frequently mischievous to young trees and fences, 
while their sharp hoofs and restless habits are apt to injure the 
grassy surface. Nor as manure-makers are they good. Again, 
as Mr. Drewry and some others truly observe, the dealer or 
trainer has the largest share of the profit, the breeder and rearer 
generally getting but a moderate figure for the fairly grown, but, 
it may be, unbroken animal. 
A quick return being now a great consideration in farming, 
with as little risk of capital as possible, it does not appear that 
the ordinary tenant-farmer in the United Kingdom can be relied 
VOL. XII.— S. S G 
