278 
HORSES. 
degenerate into ill health, probably of a scorbutic kind. 
These young horses, being so curtailed of that allowance of 
potash provided naturally for them in the green food or fresh 
field grass, are literally starved while being over-fed, but still 
not nourished, by the rich dry saltless grain given by the 
trainer. Again, it is said the carbonic acid of waste products 
is removed out of the body by phosphate of soda as a 
vehicle; but if there be no phosphate of soda the carbonic 
acid is retained, to produce the dark tarry-looking fluid in 
lieu of bright blood seen in Knavesmire. 
These points are all put suggestively, or, as Mr. Varnell 
says, “ interrogatively rather than assertively;” still, they seem 
to indicate the correct line of research in this investigation. 
They best tally with physical appearances, but such appear¬ 
ances alone can never explain the mode of production. 
They further suggest the rational line of treatment, which is 
obedience to the laws of nature. Whenever a colt or filly 
shows symptoms of nasal affection, the fresh grass of the 
open fields, where potash, soda, and lime, as saline matters, 
abound, affords the best remedial aid ; while all forms of 
stable treatment are only inflicting more suffering upon the 
brute, and fresh sorrow 7 on the master .—The Australian 
Farmer . 
HORSES. 
To the Editor of the ‘ Sheffield Independent. 3 
Sir,—A correspondent a short time ago suggested in the 
columns of the Independent the formation of an establish¬ 
ment for the breeding of horses, and he thought, considering 
the present scarcity of them, such a scheme would succeed. 
I doubt the writer being a practical authority on the sub¬ 
ject. I would not invest money in such a scheme. At the 
present price of horses even, the breeder of them is not re¬ 
munerated, and I do not think any are induced to produce 
more on account of the increased demand. What do you 
think a four-year-old colt of the hack or harness breed will 
have cost the breeder of him up to that age, when for the 
good both of the animal and the buyer he is prematurely 
offered for sale ? And what is the average marketable value 
of the animal at that time? Do not let it be forgotten that 
the four-year-old must be brought to market “ sound/ 5 to say 
nothing of appearance, style, action, colour, bloom, condition 
—if he is to command a fair price, and what proportion can 
claim the first-named recommendation at that age? Briefly, 
