The Sun.
London, England, 1859-01-14 00:00:00

FARM HORSES.

At a meeting of the Agricultural Club of Argyle,
Bute, and the Western Isles, held at Rothsay on
Saturday last, Mr. Finlay, M.P., spoke as follows
upon the relative merits of Scotch and English
horses used for agricultural purposes :—" The sub-
ject which has been selected for discussion at this
meeting is the Rearing and Management of Farm
Horses,' a subject so large and important that I
have been unable to compress it within the limits
of one address of ordinary length. I shall, there-
fore, to-day confine my observations to the first part
only—viz., the Rearing. In addressing you on this
subject, my object is not to surprise you with new
theories, or to amuse you with interesting anec-
dotes, for I hardly expect to state a single fact that
is not known to most of you already. My only aim
is to induce you to put into practice the knowledge
which so many of youpossess, particularly those of
our own country, not only because I believe farm
horses are bettermanaged in Scotlandthan in Eng-
land generally, but because the experience of our
own near neighbours is more likely to be useful
to us than the experience of those residing at a dis-
tance, where the climate, soil, and food are in many
respects different from our own. Although for many
years I have kept from six to 12 farm horses, my
own experience is not so great as it ought to have
been. I have, therefore, trusted more to such
men as Messrs. Gibson, of Woolmet ; Binnie,
of Seaton Mains ; Stedman, of Boghall ; Fin-
nie, of Swanston ; Professor Dick, of Edinurgh ;
Professor Stewart, of Glasgow ; Mr. Spooner (an
able writer in the English Agricultural journal);
Stephens, and others, to all of whom I am much in-
debted for my facts. Allow me, first, to observe
that it is comparatively easy to write and speak
upon such subjects, but it is exceedingly difficult to
apply the information practically to every-day use.
Example is better than precept, and more difficult.
We are so wedded to habit, to established customs,
so averse to persevering action in a new direction,
that after hearing and reading discussions, and re-
solving to introduce necessary reforms, we go home
and either forget them altogether, or, after a few
languid attempts, we abandon them in despair, in-
stead of persevering in the experiments until suc-
cessful. We are all of us too like idle carters, who
allow their horses to follow in the tracks of those
who went before them, satisfied to jog on in the
ruts made by our predecessors. Mr. Finlay here, at
some length, impressed upon his auditory that
theory was of little value without practice, and
that the practical man was the really valuable man;
and invited gentlemen present to discuss and criti-
cise with the utmost freedom all his observations,
stating that a good contradiction was a valuable
thing, though not always pleasant in such a club
as that. We would (he said) be the better of a mem-
ber or two like the man, of whom you have al
heard, who, when he was asked one evening whet
he was going to, replied, " I'm jest gaun doon to
the club to contradick a wee." It has always ap-
peared to me surprising that in England, where so
much money, time, and ability have been expended
in improving live stock, farm horses should be so
comparatively neglected. Farm horses in England
are a disgrace to the country; and even in Scotland,
where we have a finer stock, the necessary atten-
tion has not been devoted to the rearing and
management. We frequently hear of some £3OO or
£4OO being given for a short-horn cow, but never
heard of an instance for which such a sum was given
for a work cart mare. Some farmers say that, tak-
ing price into account, there was little difference
between the value of the work got out of a worn-
out horse and that obtained out of a vigorous
one. Here Mr. Finlay, at great length, com-
bated the soundness of this doctrine by calcula-
tions relative to carting and field work. Speaking
as to the latter, he said—l have often seen two
horses and one man do more and better work in
Scotland than four horses and a man and boy:do in
England. In England you see four horses to a
plough, driven by a lad. These horses get little
grain, but an ample supply of straw, mid some-
times clover and meadow hay ; they are potbellied,
ill-shaped, slow-moving animals, and they work
only six or seven hours a-day. Two good, well-fed
horses would do as much work as five of them ;
their owners will tell you they cannot do more—
and why ? Because they are a bad sort to begin
with, and secondly, because they are badly fed and
badly treated. If we wish to have vigorous work
horses we must have the horses of a good breed,
enduring in action ' • secondly, we must manage
them with care and judgment. These two points
comprehend the whole question. First, as to
getting horses of a good breed : Since the old
Highland fashion of cattle-lifting has gone
out of practice, there are only two methods—
rearing or buying. Here Mr. Finlay gave at some
length his reasons for recommending farmers to
breed their own horses, giving the points And clut.