at Newcastle-upon- Tyne. 
103 
castle in the reign of Charles II. ; and had not subsided, accord- 
ing to De Berenger, "when George the Third was King." Then, 
in addition to the circumstances aforesaid, to which the recent 
show owes its origin, persons, whose opinion is entitled to the 
greatest respect, say that breeding hunters, and what Mr. Lupton 
calls " general utility horses," does not pay, and farmers have 
written to the papers to the same effect. That farmers should 
find in the breeding of horses (other than heavy draught-horses) 
a remunerative undertaking is desirable for many reasons ; but 
especially for two. It would be a stand-by in these times of de- 
pression, and it would give to this country the army horses which 
she so sorely requires, and which she may one day require still 
more. But the statement that breeding does not pay is, like the 
cry of scarcity, a thing of ancient date. In one of his letters to 
the ' Sporting Magazine,' " Nimrod " committed himself to the 
assertion that, " under proper management, a good three-parts 
bred mare may be a little fortune to a farmer." In the number of 
the above publication for March, 1825, " A Fox-hunting Farmer" 
joined issue with Nimrod, and concluded by setting out his 
balance-sheet of the " Sale of the produce of a remarkably fine 
hunting mare." From this document, which appears to be a very 
fair one, it seems that the " remarkably fine hunting mare " bred 
ten foals. One died early, and a second was lost after reaching 
the age of three years ; but the remaining eight, after deducting 
the expense of keeping the defunct three-year-old, brought 581/., 
or an average of 64Z. lis. each for the nine. The farmer cal- 
culated that he lost 35/. 9s. over each of his nine youngsters ! 
In the face of all this it may be asked, " When did breeding 
ever pay ? " An attempt has heretofore been made to show that 
the breeder was ruined when railways drove coaches off the 
road. This is clearly wrong. In the days of fast coaches the 
average price for leaders was only about 25/. at the outside, and 
about 5/. or 11. more bought the wheelers. Not one coach- 
horse in 500 came direct from the breeder's hands ; he only 
found himself before or behind the bars when accident, blemish, 
or temper had reduced his market-value to the contractor's 
price. On the other hand, there is now a greater demand for 
horses than ever. The London and provincial omnibuses and 
cabs have taken the place of the coach ; more private carriages 
are kept, more men hunt than formerly, and our army is short 
of horses. If, therefore, breeding be the commercial failure it 
is said to be, the reason has yet to be given. Assuming proper 
material to work upon, and the exercise of a little care, if breeding 
does not pay the farmer, it is difficult to see to what other class 
of persons it can be remunerative. The farmer growing his 
own forage can keep his horses more cheaply than he who has 
