238 ON THE MANAGEMENT OF THE FARM HORSE. 
ciety’s Journal. Beautiful and expressive descriptions of the 
“ willing slave” have been ably pourtrayed by the poet and 
classic; sovereigns and warriors have also added their meed of 
praise. The horse, identified as he is with our pleasures and our 
wants, takes a pre-eminent rank among quadrupeds; he con¬ 
tributes to our labour and to our profit, and is also an object of 
universal regard. Historians say, Great Britain owes but little for 
its present race to any indigenous breed it might have possessed : 
imports of the animal from other countries have been chronicled; 
historical writers say our only native claim is the Welch pony. 
It is said, the English cart-horse was originally imported from 
Normandy or Flanders. It matters not whence we derived our 
parent stock; our present race, although not universally good, 
ranks superior to every other. Of the different breeds of the 
British cart-horse that have acquired celebrity for good qualities 
and conformation, the breed in the valley of the Clyde, called the 
Clydesdale breed, are strong and hardy, active and staunch, and 
well adapted for all kinds of farm work or labour. The black 
cart-horse of Lincolnshire, bred in the midland counties, is an ani¬ 
mal well known, and, when about four or five years old, is sent 
into the London market, and realizes a fair profit. The Suffolk 
Punch is a powerful animal—surnamed Punch, from his round and 
compact form; excellent for heavy draught, and well under com¬ 
mand. The original breed is said to be nearly lost. There are 
many other breeds described by authors; but the breed of the pre¬ 
sent day is what is required in this Essay : to give or detail the 
same as near as I can, will be my endeavour. The breed of the 
cart-horse is very diverse at the present day; every county—in 
fact, I may say, every province—has its favourite stallion serving 
mares at a very low price, without the least attention being paid 
to symmetry, constitution, or hereditary tendency to disease, in 
either animal. Whilst such a state of things remains, we must rest 
contented with a mixed or mongrel breed. It may be admitted, 
but with some exceptions, that very few men pay so little at¬ 
tention to the breeding of horses as the agriculturists themselves. 
A very common practice exists with the farmer, should he happen 
to breed what he considers a fine animal, to allow him to serve 
mares in his own vicinity when only two or three years old, and 
at a low charge, thus laying a sure road for a puny progeny; and 
if no judgment has been paid to the discernment whether he is free 
from any hereditary or constitutional defect, disease, as a conse¬ 
quence, may be entailed, or any other imperfection or bad quality : 
this is, therefore, a practice highly reprehensible. 
Stallions frequently travel from one part of the county to ano¬ 
ther, stopping at the market towns; bills are placarded, stating their 
