G91 
IMPROVEMENT OF AGRICULTURAL HORSES. 
action is slow and heavy, rendering him useful only for slow 
work. Consequent upon his general distribution, various 
crosses have of necessity taken place; and not only so, but 
the influence of very varied conditions has been brought to 
bear in different localities; so that we are not surprised to 
find all sorts of sizes and forms, from the smallest and thick¬ 
est of cart-horses, up to the finest specimens of the London 
dray-horse. In all these varieties the characteristics of the ori¬ 
ginal animal are in general very apparent, especially the hairy 
leg, circulai\body, and sluggish movements ; for though inter¬ 
mixture with other kinds necessarily modifies these distinc¬ 
tions, it does not extinguish them. At the present time it 
would probably be diffieult to obtain a pure specimen; but, 
among the numerous results of crossing, many animals might 
be selected which would possess in a marked degree the very 
important requisites, power and hardihood of constitution ; 
and considering the numerical importance of the breed, its 
improvement cannot consistently be estimated as a matter of 
indifference. 
The Suffolk horse, from his peculiar compactness of form, 
familiarly known as the Suff’olk Punch, may be placed in the 
same category uith the English black horse, or at least may 
be described as distinguished by similar characters—power, 
bulk, and slow movement, although his action is quicker than 
that of the heaviest English horses. The most common 
colour is chesnut, and the animal is considered to be supe¬ 
rior to the English black horse; for if his pace is slow, his 
])ower of draught is remarkable, and some of the best speci¬ 
mens almost equal the dray-horse in bulk and beauty of con¬ 
formation. From his extraordinary endurance and great 
strength, added to Ins willingness to employ that strength to 
the utmost, we must award him a very important position 
among agricultural horses. Tlie Suffolk horse is not confined 
to the county which gives his name, but the breed is pretty 
extensively distributed, especially in Essex. 
The lighter breeds of draught horses are represented by 
the Clydesdale and the Cleveland; both these animals are 
very distinct from the two kinds already considered. 
The Cleveland is properly the coach-horse, but is largely 
used for draught purposes in the vicinity of towns, and in 
localities where the roads are good. The animafs confor¬ 
mation adapts him to quick work, and even the larger kinds, 
uhich are selected for draught, have a length of stride which 
enables them to progress with considerable freedom, and 
makes them particularly valuable where quick transit is an 
object. From various intermixtures between the Cleveland 
