486 
ON BREEDING. 
tfommunicattong anil GTasfjs. 
Ars vcterinaria post medicinam secunda est.— Vegetius. 
ON BREEDING. 
By Mr. Karkeek, of Truro . 
[Continued from p. 392.] 
“ Interea, superat gregibus dam laeta juvenilis, 
Salve mares; mitte in Venerem pecuaria primus; 
Atque aliam ex alia generando suffice prolem,” 
* * * * 
* * jfc * 
“ Semper erunt, quarum mutari corpora malis 
Semper enim refice : ac, ne post amissa requiras, 
Anteveni, et sobolem armento sortire quotannis. 
Nec non et pecori est idem delectus equino” 
Virg. Georg. 111 . 
Respectable and useful as every branch of the agricultural 
art is, no one is of greater importance to the public, or more likely 
to prove advantageous to those who may be so fortunate as to 
succeed in it, than that of breeding horses. Much has been ef¬ 
fected in bringing the different breeds to perfection by our an¬ 
cestors, yet much still remains to be accomplished; it being an 
acknowledged fact, that this art, instead of having been improved 
by the present generation, has been considerably on the decline. 
We do not allude to race-horses, although there are some who 
would have us believe that even they are not equal to those of 
former times ; but we chiefly allude to those more valuable ; 
animals about half or two-thirds bred, and that are chiefly em¬ 
ployed as hunters and roadsters—animals that are at once our com¬ 
panions and our slaves, that carry us for our amusement and our 
exercise, and are the source of incalculable use and benefit. Mr. 
Castley’s “observations upon the present state of horses in what 
are called the breeding districts” so ably explain this as to require 
no further comments from us # . 
Few subjects have afforded more matter for controversy than 
that of breeding; numerous and contradictory are the opinions ; 
so much have the different experiments which have been under¬ 
taken been at variance with one another. Theory after theory 
has been formed, each strongly supported by its admirers, and 
* See Veterinarian, p. 371. 
