122 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
HOESES FOR THE ROAD. 
Messrs. Gaylord & Tucker —But little is said in any 
of our agricultural journals, and less done by the farmers 
of New-England, and I believe of many other States, to 
improve the breed of horses; less than has been done to 
improve any other of our domestic animals. 
The horse, standing- as he does at the head of all our 
domestic animals, should not thus be neglected. It is for 
the interest of the farmer, if he breed horses, to breed 
those and those only that will readily sell at prices that 
will fully remunerate him for the breeding. It costs no 
more to raise a horse that at four 3 ears old readily sells 
at one to two hundred dollars, than one that it is hard to 
get rid of at forty dollars. Experience and observation 
have convinced me that this can be done by the use and 
use only of thorough bred stallions with the best of our 
country mares and grade mares. The thorough bred 
horse is possessed of sufficient bone, and that of flinty 
hardness, muscle of more firmness than that of any other 
horse—his gait more elastic, with wind and bottom to 
excel any other breed of horses. Stallions possessing 
these qualities, rising 15^ hands, with good country 
or grade mares, ever have and ever will produce a race 
of horses well calculated for the coach, road or plow. 
They walk faster, trot faster, and will endure hard labor 
better than any horse destitute of this strain of blood. 
Messenger, by Mambrino , was imported into Pennsyl¬ 
vania about the year 1795. His location was favorable 
for the use of country mares; his descendants were nu¬ 
merous, and have ever been celebrated as the best of 
horses. Mambrino, a son of imported Messenger, the sire 
of the celebrated trotting horse Abdalla, has added to the 
fame of the u Messenger breed” of horses, so called. Im¬ 
ported Messenger was the sire of Miller’s Damsel, the 
dam of Eclipse. Duroc, the sire of Eclipse, left many 
valuable and highly prized horses out of country and 
grade mares. Bajazet, Bucephalus and Obscurity, all 
thorough bred horses, were brought from Virginia to 
Hartford, from 1790 to 1794; they were used to country 
mares only, and at moderate prices. Their descendants 
were as celebrated here, as Messenger’s were where 
known. 
King William, Matchem, Guido, Benjamin, and two or 
three more thorough bred horses, were imported from 
England into Hartford, about the year 1798. Several of 
these horses were kept in Hartford two or three years, 
and stood for mares at five guineas the season. King 
William left many very fine and valuable horses in this 
county. By him, out of a Bajazet mare, I had a colt 
Which made the best gelding ever bred in the county. 
These horses were finally taken to Vermont and New- 
Hampshire, and to the use of them, I believe is to be at¬ 
tributed the excellence of the Vermont and New-Hamp¬ 
shire horses. 
Col. Talmadge of Litchfield, had a thorough bred horse 
Highlander, which was of immense value to that county. 
Roman was imported by S. Williams^, Esq. of Northbo- 
rough, Mass.; by him I had two fillies out of a Vermont 
mare, which at 4 years old, were worth three hundred 
dollars each. A pair of mares by him, sold in Massa¬ 
chusetts, when six years old, for one thousand dollars; 
and I knew many others by him nearly as valuable. Sir 
Harry, a thorough-bred, was kept in this vicinity, 
about the year 1830. A gelding by him out of a country 
mare, was sold at 4 years old for two hundred dollars, 
and a mare at 10 years old for one hundred and twenty- 
five dollars; and the same country mare produced four 
other colts, by horses of domestic manufactured pedigrees, 
which were sold at forty to seventy dollars each, at four 
to six years old. 
A friend of mine had a Naragansett mare, which pro ¬ 
duced a foal by Moses, a thorough bred horse, that proved 
to be worth double to two other foals she had from other 
horses. Mr. Samuel Wolcott of this town, well known 
as the most judicious and successful breeder of cattle we 
ever had in Connecticut, also bred horses. He bred prin¬ 
cipally by thorough-bred stallions to his grade mares; 
and now many well recollect the valuable horses he 
bred, and particularly a carriage horse and a saddle horse 
he left on his farm at his decease in 1813. 
One of Gen. Eaton’s Barbs, stood two or three 3 r ears m 
this vicinity. It cannot be said we received any benefit 
by that cross. Winter Arabian, was for a time kept in 
Kentucky, and then in Virginia. In 1832, 1 had him—he 
never produced a valuable foal either from blood or 
country mares. 
Bellfounder, imported by Mr. Boott of Boston, stood 
several years at the farm of Mr. Jaques, was a Norfolk 
trotter, a descendant on the side of his sire of the Firea- 
ways. At five years old he trotted two miles in six mi¬ 
nutes, and was 15 hands high. Of his get, I have never 
seen or heard of any of extraordinary speed or bottom, or 
in any way particularly valuable for stallions. A Cleave- 
land bay, imported and kept near Baltimore, was the sire 
of some fine and valuable horses out of blood mares. At 
the farm of the Hon. Charles Carroll at Carrolton, in 
1826, I saw two very superior young stallions produced 
by this union; and had the)' been geldings, would have 
made splendid coach horses. Had I thorough-bred 
mares, more than I -wished to propagate race nags from, 
I should put them to a Cleaveland bay stallion. A stal¬ 
lion and mare of this breed were imported into Massachu¬ 
setts by Admiral Coffin. This horse was inferior to the 
one imported into Baltimore, and I never could learn he 
was the sire of any very valuable horses from country 
mares. Had I Canadian mares, I think by the use of a 
thorough bred stallion, I could breed from them at a 
profit. Henry Watson. 
East Windsor, Ct., Feb. 1844. 
Note.— Mr. Watson remarks that he has never seen or 
heard of any horses of Bellfounder’s get, “ of extraordi¬ 
nary speed or bottom.” We have seen several which 
were certainly remarkable in this respect. We distinctly 
recollect a roan colt (the owner’s name is forgotten,) 
which attracted much attention at one of the Brighton 
(Mass.) cattle shows. Dr. Nourse of Hallowell, Me., had 
a horse and mare got by Bellfounder, of extraordinary 
speed. The man who broke this mare, (a great horse¬ 
man,) said that her natural gait was a mile in three min¬ 
utes or less, and that she would do this under a tight rein, 
while he was breaking her! The Messrs. Allen of Buf¬ 
falo, a few years ago owned a horse of Bellfounder’s get, 
which has since obtained considerable celebrity in Ohio. 
We dare say Col. Jaques can tell us of others equally ce¬ 
lebrated. 
Admiral Coffin presented two Cleaveland bay horses 
and a mare, to the Mass. Ag. Society. The first horse 
sent, (Sir Isaac,) was not a handsome animal, and we 
think did not turn out very well. The next one came 
over with the two race horses, which were also present¬ 
ed by the same gentleman. This last Cleaveland bay 
was a noble horse in appearance. We should be glad if 
Col. Jaques or some other gentleman in Massachusetts, 
would inform us in regard to the progeny of these hor¬ 
ses—whether the)' were considered an improvement in 
any way, &c. —Eds. 
HAY MAKING. 
Messrs. Editors —I have seen it recommended from 
time to time in your excellent paper, to salt hay, as a re¬ 
medy for imperfect curing. Having tried this method 
occasionally, and observed its effects with some care, I 
am led to doubt its utility. My objections are two, viz 
that it is not so nutritious as when well cured; and that 
it causes cattle to scour. My desire in stating these ob 
jections, is to call forth further information on the subject. 
The temptation is very great, when hay is nearly dried, 
to flatter ourselves that it will keep, especially if well 
salted, and in it goes. The same state of things occurs 
the next day perhaps, and temptation once yielded to, in 
this as in other things, soon becomes a habit; and in un¬ 
favorable seasons particularly, our barns are filled with 
hay, which on feeding out, salt notwithstanding, proves 
musty and unpalatable. As we open these musty mows, 
and see our cattle poke over and snuff at the hay, we pro¬ 
mise ourselves perhaps, not to do so again; but the next 
season the same thing is enacted, and so on through a 
man’s life. 
This town is somewhat celebrated in this region for 
good hay and fine cattle. Our best farmers can hardly be 
