AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST." 
A COTSWOLD BUCK. 
THE PROPERTY OF TIIE MESSRS. HALEOCK AND 
MR. JAMES SHERMAN, MILTON, N. Y. 
The above is an engraving from a daguerreo¬ 
type, of the fine Ootswold buck we mentioned, 
page 385 of our last volume. It was taken last 
spring before he was sheared. It does not rep¬ 
resent him quite as long as he is. It is almost 
impossible for a daguerreotype to do animals 
proper justice—they almost invariably fail in 
some point. However, any one who is a judge 
of this sort of stock, cannot fail to see the merit 
of this noble sheep, and may easily imagine, 
from a study of the daguerreotype, how he ; 
would look in reality. When we wrote the no¬ 
tice of Mr. Hallock’s stock, &c., it escaped our 
memory to add, that Mr. Sherman was a part 
owner in him. We have now set this matter 
right. 
BREEDING HORSES. 
We take the following remarks by “Cecil,” 
from the Mark Lane Express, on the exhibition 
of horses at the late show of the Royal Agricul¬ 
tural Society. The observations are well wor¬ 
thy of regard in respect to the employment of 
stout thorough-bred stallions, and is as applica¬ 
ble to this country as to England. 
We maintain that the breeder who is desirous 
to rear horses of the highest value, either as 
hunters or hacks, or indeed for any other pur¬ 
pose under the saddle, must have recourse to 
thorough-bred sires. And here it may be ne¬ 
cessary to introduce a few brief remarks expla¬ 
natory of the term. It implies a class of our 
domestic animals, whether it be of horses, cat¬ 
tle, sheep, or pigs, which is derived through a 
long race of ancestors, each of which has been 
selected with the utmost care for those superior 
qualifications which render them most useful 
and valuable. The thorough-bred horse under¬ 
goes the most severe probation in training, and 
in racing, where his powers of endurance, con¬ 
stitutional stamina, and soundness are unequiv¬ 
ocally tested. It is the breeder’s fault if he se¬ 
lects an animal for the purpose of procreation, 
which has proved himself defective in the most 
important qualities. The thorough-bred horse 
can sustain a greater share of labor and hard¬ 
ships than any other of the species. We 
somethimes see, but with regret, the worn-out 
racer doing duty in a London cab ; or sustain¬ 
ing the abuse, and performing the drudgery of 
a village butcher’s hack; sometimes carrying | 
his inconsiderate master on the road, or his still j 
more inconsiderate boy, who too frequently in¬ 
dulges in a gallop against any one who will ac¬ 
cept his challenge; at other times fastened to 
the gate, and shivering in the cold, while his 
master is closing a bargain at the farmer’s 
hearth ; after his day’s work is over, the cold, 
bleak common is his resting place. I n this pitiable 
condition he bears the hardships of his fate with 
courage, and withstands the variable effects of 
the elements to an extent far beyond what the 
mongrel can endure. 
The proposition made by Mr. Spooner to 
breed from three-parts-bred sires capable of 
carrying sixteen stone with the fleetest houn Is, 
as a means of regenerating our horses, was no¬ 
ticed in these columns at the time; it may fur¬ 
ther be observed, there is not such an animal 
in existence. No horse, unless he must be 
more highly bred than that which Mr. Spooner 
describes, can live with hounds when running. 
There is another impediment in all cases 
where horses are used for breeding which are 
not thorough-bred — it is impossible to discover 
with accuracy worthy of dependence how such 
horses are descended ; and to grovel on in the 
dark, in that respect, is a chance to which an 
experienced breeder of valuable stock would be 
reluctant to expose himself. The risk in this 
respect is often conspicuous with mares ; and it 
is folly to render the probability of incestuous 
breeding doubly hazardous. It is universally 
understood by all practical and observant breed¬ 
ers that the male must be of pure descent if an 
approach to perfection is anticipated. 
Would His Grace the Duke of Richmond 
seek to improve his beautiful flock of South- 
down sheep by the introduction of rams from 
the Welsh mountains? or would the late Earl 
Ducie have brought his herd of Short-horns to 
that perfection at which they had arrived when 
they were sold, if the common bulls of the 
county of Gloucester had been substituted for 
the highly-bred Short-horn? The mountain 
sheep and the common bulls more nearty repre¬ 
sent the primitive animals of uncultivated na¬ 
ture than do the South-downs and the Short¬ 
horns ; and the mongrel-bred horse is in a sim¬ 
ilar position. 
It may be said that for many purposes more 
bone and power is required than are generally 
found in the thorough-bred horses. This can 
only be admitted to limited extent. If we were 
to select the most powerful of that class, very 
few, if any, of inferior breed could be found to 
equal them for any kind of labor in which the 
combination of strength and activity is required. 
It is obvious that thorough-bred horses en¬ 
dowed with those powers cannot be brought 
into use for ordinary occupations, in conse¬ 
quence of their value for other purposes; but 
they are the models to be taken as standards, 
and the nearer other classes of horses represent 
them, the nearer they will arrive at perfection, 
and the more serviceable and valuable willjjthey 
be. 
Thorough-bred mares cannot be brought into 
general use to supply the country with their 
stock, because we do not possess a sufficient 
number of those which are endowed with the 
necessary qualifications; and they are mostly 
engaged in the costly service of breeding for 
the turf. To employ light, weedy, powerless 
animals is folly in the extreme. 
THE BEST KIND OF MULES. 
We copy the following article from the Louis¬ 
ville Journal. It is written by a sensible prac¬ 
tical farmer and stock-breeder, and we trust it 
will be read with attention. Mr. Cockrill is un¬ 
questionably right in his views ; and his obser¬ 
vations are equally applicable to horses and 
working animals. With cattle merely destined 
for the butcher, and with sheep and swine, which 
are never worked, great size and the forcing 
system are not so reprehensible. 
The mule is the great field laborer in the com¬ 
manding staples of the South, cotton, sugar 
and rice, as he is one of the annual exports of 
Tennessee, and as he will continue to be so, he 
is destined to hold even a higher position than 
heretofore among the live stock of the State. 
Jacks of excessive heavy bone, or improper 
pampering, are generally lazy, or soon become 
so by labor, and become very slow; their driver- 
may force them on, but in a few steps they take 
their slow natural steps again. Such mules are 
therefore almost worthless, and should not be 
bred if it can be avoided. The most perfect 
mules are not to be expected from the exces¬ 
sively large, coarse-boned jacks, or excessive 
high feeding, but from the laws of nature car¬ 
ried out to the greatest perfection by skilful 
breeding and feeding. 
An error has existed for many years, and still 
exists, concerning the size of mules. Size has 
been made a measure of value, in the mule, al¬ 
most regardless of form and spirit, and so it has 
been in their sire, the jack. 
I have been employing a mule team for 
twenty-five years in the cultivation of cotton in 
Mississippi, and my team now numbers one hun¬ 
dred. In this time I have used every variety of 
the mule (except the most inferior kind) that 
has ever been grown. 
At the commencement of my planting opera¬ 
tions I adopted the prevalent error that size was 
the measure of value, and pursued it for many 
years, much to my prejudice. By long trials, 
and by comparing the relative performances and 
lastingness ot the large team which I have 
used, aided by observation and reflection, I am 
fully’satisfied that the medium-sized mule, full 
of spirit and of action, with a neat, firm leg, 
and round body, with his levers set right for 
easy motion, h's head and ears up, ready to 
move at the word, is the animal of most value 
of his kind. 
The laws of natuie cannot be violated with 
impunity. The jack when grown within thescope 
of these laws is a small animal. The mule is a 
medium between the jack and horse. Both the 
jack and mule, by a hot-bed growth, may be 
forced to be large animals. But in this forcing- 
process, now more extensively pursued by Ken¬ 
tucky than any other State, what has been 
gained and what lost? 
They have gained large boned, coarse ani¬ 
mals, of large size, and at an early age full of 
defects, and soon ready to decay, because sub¬ 
ject to disease, and large consumers of food. 
They have lost symmetry, spirit, action, last¬ 
ing endurance, and permanent value. 
The farmers of Kentucky seem not, to ha,ve 
taken a proper distinction between animals in¬ 
tended for active labor and those intended for 
the slaughter pen. 
The error that I especially aim at is the aban- 
