EDITORIAI,. 
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dollars, the full brother to Henry of Navarre brought over twenty-five 
hundred dollars, and altogether the sales have, as a rule, been most satis¬ 
factory. Even at Sheffield, Ind., the five sons of the mighty Kingston 
brought an average of over nine hundred dollars each, IM, F. Dwyer hav¬ 
ing a commissioner on the ground to buy the sons of the great horse. 
At St. Louis the prices obtained were also good. 
Thoroughbreds for France. —Within the past few weeks an agent 
of the French government has purchased at and around the Forsyth track 
some fifty-five thoroughbreds, the price paid being, on an average, one 
hundred and twenty-five dollars per head. As far as can be learned the 
horses are being purchased for use in the French cavalry and artillery 
service, not for breeding purposes, and thereby hangs somewhat of a 
mystery. Hitherto it has been supposed that for active military service 
the thoroughbred lacked weight-carr3*ing ability, and that the half-bred 
horses were superior in this rOvSpect. It has all along been conceded that 
some thoroughblood was absolutely necessar^^ in an army horse of high 
class, and in truth thoroughbreds are used in all the old world nations 
for begetting cavalr}^ and artillerj^ horses, but it must be an extraordi¬ 
nary^ condition that prompts the French government to dispatch to 
America an emissary with an order for some two thousand thorough¬ 
breds valued at only' one hundred and twenty-five dollars. Thorough¬ 
breds that can be bought for that price are not as a rule worth much for 
racing purposes, so it is no wonder that the quevSt of the French commis¬ 
sioner has given rise to much curiosity. 
In regard to this last item we may remark that there is noth¬ 
ing mysterious^ about it. The light cavalry of the French, 
German and other Continental armies have mounted a large 
number of their officers on thoroughbreds, because for recon- 
noitering purposes they surpass any other horse in swiftness. 
As long as sound thoroughbreds can be purchased from ns at 
such a low figure, these horses will be readily purchased from 
abroad for these purposes, although, we believe, that all the mares 
will go to the studs. 
These reports, together with the call for cavalry^ horses from 
Belgium, and the exportation of thoroughbreds and half-breeds 
for the Japan army from Seattle, Washington, may justly give 
the American horse-breeder a pointer not to exclusively engage 
in the business of breeding heavy coachers and roadsters, but that 
he may with profit pay special attention to the breeding of a 
