Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1856-08-28
ON THE CHOICE OF BROOD MARES.

ON THE CHOICE OF BROOD MARES
A few hints on this subject We trust, NAV
be found useful. The scarcity of good road
sters among horses, is owing to too little
care in the selection of brood mares. In
deed, a selection is seldom made. but every
farmer breeds from such as be happens to
possess. This is bad system We should
select well-bred mares, if that is possible
mares, whose progenitors have been well Sc
lected, and whose families have been uni
formly good stock -getters
A breeding mare should have size and
weight; she should come off with no less
than 1 100 lbs, and 200 would be better
This weight is sufficient, if the muscular
system is we'll developed. Bones and fat
ness do not give an animal strength or fleet
ness. Look we'll to the shoulder, and to the
setting on of the fore legs. A fine shoulder
is one Of the most essential qualities We
should never breed from mare with bad
shoulder. A fine shoulder projects out, Civ
ing ample room for the collar-is round and
full, and standing backward, giving short
ness to the back of the animal You may
take beast wanting in almost every other
excellency, and it is of some value, but if
she has decidedly bad shoulder, she never.
can be worth the rearing, much less be bred
from with any safety. The fore legs should
be placed well forward, so as to give good
support to the animal. If these are well
put on, and the shoulder is right, you may
be sure of good action, which is eq qually i'm
portant in horse as in an orator.
The head and nose should be fine, not too
long or thin-nostrils large The eyes
must be clear, lively and lustrous. The
ear rather small and pointing forward The
pering fine to the setting of the head The
carcass should be long, SO as to give room
for the growing fetus, with as much COM
pactness Of form as may be needed for good
appearance, though little looseness Of
structure is quite allowable in breeding
mare. There is much said about being
''well ribbed up and you will always see
quack judges measuring with outstretched
hand the space between the ribs and hips,
as though this was point Of the first con-
sequence. Much limit may be tolerated
here in brood mares
+poscs. Is before limited, bone and fafneFs
do not give strength to horse-there
must be muscle we'll laid on, especiallyabout
the forearm, thighs and pasterns. Thin,
lank thighs are a serious objection. She
should have width across the hips Or haun-
ches-even if so much as to subject her to
the charge of being auGyed-hippcd, it is no
serious detriment. Some horses noted for
their speed and strength were ragged-hip-
ped:
There is beautiful principle, (whcther
observed or not) lying at the foundation OF
all breeding, good or bad, thus simply ex
pressed s'1ihe produces like" What a
simple principle and how readily its cor
rectness is acknowledged by the common
sense of every man. But how little is it
regarded by most farmers, who breed from
any old broken down spawned, ring boned,
or broken-winded mare they may happen to
possess, and employ any itinerant stallion
that seeks their patronage, because it saves
them the trouble of looking about and a few
dollars expense? How can they expect su
perior colts by such lottery game as this?
Could you get a sporting man to trust to
such a course? No, no. horses for the
turf are bred with the incest regard to every
point.
If mare is deficient in single point,
stallion is sought which is particularly ex-
cellent in this respect, so that the progeny
shall possess the exact conformation. E1-
: pense and trouble are not considered. The
same intelligent course should be adopted
by farmers in breeding horses for the farm
or road The same care in matching or
pairing would secure the same satisfactory
results, and we should soon boast q better
class of work-horses.
The subject of improving our breeds OF
horses, is one which requires much careful
reflection, and long time must elapse, with
we'll directed efforts, to achieve what those
proud of good horses SO much desire to see.
: doctor, kin you tell what's the matter
> with my child's noseY' Eyes, marin; its
probably an irritation of the gastric mucous
membrane communicating sympathetic t.
tillation to the epithelium of the echoerian p
, ''Thar, now; that's jest what told Becky. !"
Opportunity is the flower of time; andas
the stalk may remain when the flower is cut
off, so time may remain with us when oppor-
Itunity is gone forever. s.