Breeding, Rearing, and Feeding Horses, Cattle, and Sheep. 85 
people accumulate wealth their stud of horses increases. Many 
now keep a horse or horses for pleasure, riding or driving, who 
had no such luxury twenty years ago. Then, as field-cultivation 
lias improved and become more thorough, the work of the farm- 
horse has grown. The high-pressure system of feeding, and the 
liard work to which thousands of farm- and dray-horses are now- 
adays subjected, tend materially to shorten the lives of the 
animals, while the destruction of horse-flesh in City omnibuses 
and tramway-cars is very great, and has been increasing for 
several years. Taking all these circumstances into account, 
it should not be so difficult to understand why horses have been 
scarce. It does puzzle one a little, however, to account for 
them remaining so very high in price after the pretty general 
return to breeding which has been observable in the course of 
the last few years. Good young farm-horses ready for work 
could not have been bought for some years at less than from 
80Z. to 120/., a common figure being 100/. For all practical 
purposes this is too much. Even at 25 per cent, less, the breed- 
ing of agricultural horses to a moderate extent should pay on 
farms in any way adapted for the purpose. 
Farms suitable for horse-breeding are those with moderately 
sized fields, good hedge or stone-wall fencing, a range of per- 
manent or roughish pasture of ordinary quality, land free 
from small stones, and in a moist climate. Very highly rented 
arable land — say over 50s. an acre, where there is only a small 
portion in grass, and where much of the farm-work is, as Mr. 
Coleman says, in shafts — is not well adapted for the breeding of 
horses. Even though a considerable breadth of the farm were 
in good permanent grass, it is probable that the fattening of 
bullocks would pay better than the rearing of horses. On farms 
wholly arable and under a regular rotation, especially if Hear 
large towns, in-foal mares are unfit for the work all the year 
round. The hard labour on such farms, and the rough usage to 
which horses are sometimes subjected by careless and incapable 
servants, often produce abortion ; and though the mares work 
steadily and tolerably safely up almost to foaling time, they 
cannot keep up the end of the yoke five consecutive hours for 
some time after foaling. If they are yoked or worked soon after 
foaling as steadily as before, both mother and progeny are very 
liable to injury. Apart from the crushing nature of the employ- 
ment on heavy-land arable farms, and the inconvenience, not 
to say loss, of having a team broken by a mare foaling at a busy 
season of the year, the expense of keeping young horses on such 
holdings operates against extensive breeding. Young horses 
cannot go steadily in the yoke on these farms until they are 
four years old, and even at that age they require more careful 
