122 NORTH OF ENGLAND VETERINARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. 
mare must work, and the old one cannot.” But when you 
reason with him and show him that the old mare will cost 
as much or more to keep than the young one; that the foal 
of the latter will in all probability be worth treble that of 
the former; that while the defects of the old mare will cer¬ 
tainly descend to her foal, causing great difficulty of sale, 
even at *a low price; and that the offspring of the young 
mare, being free from such defects, will not only sell at a 
good price, but that dealers and others will soon find out 
where the breeders of such horses are, and will be always 
ready to take them for sale, even above the ordinary market 
value, he will thank you for your advice and adopt it. 
I shall not occupy your time further on the subject of 
breeding, but I feel certain that the members of the veteri¬ 
nary profession would do well if they took a greater interest 
in the breeding and rearing of agricultural live stock than 
they do. It is by giving our customers, even gratui¬ 
tously, good, sound advice, arrived at only by years of obser¬ 
vation and research, which will make them appreciate the edu¬ 
cated and scientific man more than the man of mere routine. 
Having now touched upon a few of the subjects which, in 
my humble opinion, should occupy part of the time at our 
quarterly meetings, I shall, in conclusion, briefly notice a 
few of the rocks and quicksands which our professional bark 
must be exceedingly careful to steer clear of, or she will 
inevitably go to pieces, and the compound body will rapidly 
assume its elementary forms. 
The first in importance is, that no personal matter 
whatever should ever be allowed to enter into our dis¬ 
cussions. There is, as we all know, a certain amount of 
clashing of interests between professional men of the same 
calling everywhere, and the veterinary profession is no ex¬ 
ception to this rule ; hence it should be thoroughly understood 
that the least allusion to anything of a personal nature would 
be considered as an insult to all the members of this asso¬ 
ciation. If the Association is to go on and become of any 
use to us as professional men, we must firmly maintain this 
position, or, so to speak, rally round this point as one of 
honour, with all the tenacity which brave soldiers do to the 
standard of their regiment. I press this advice the more 
earnestly because I know this has been the rock upon which 
similar societies in the medical profession have foundered— 
societies with which I have been connected as an honorary 
member. 
Another shoal which we should steer clear of is the rate of 
remuneration we receive for our services, This, in my 
