New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1857-12-01
IMPORTANT TO FARMERS
IMPROVEMENT OF THE BREED OF HORSES.
Sixth Article

70 In our last article on Sbis sueJecs, We promised
to examine into the original competition, IS regards
their blood, Of the family Of horses known IS Nor
CARS which have attained great celebrity, esPe
cary in fhe Eastern States, ss roadster. but which
age also sdnissed almost universally TO have degen-
Grated greatly n size and 10 be in danger Of degen-
eraiicn in al other qualities unless s new stimulus
can be given to the blood by an infusion Of new
strains 1t is believed that this progressive degen-
sracy Of the Morgsns is attributable chiefly, if NOT
entirely, to persistence in breeding too long, thst
is TO cay, for many successive generations, sto one
and the same blood, so that whatever original por-
ton a thorough blood existed in their VEINS has
dwindled away by constant reinfusion OF the com
men blood, until the rase has lost nearly s that it
once possessed Of VIA. alone gives permanent'iTsue
70 sny family Of horses-pure oriental blood. By
coming st the original blood SIS ne.rly as possible,
we shall learn which Of the Ne strains Of blood II
be found in the country are the most desirable to
tie end Of .Gectpg refrigeration, sod which are
the most 10 be avoided, as too closely cogn<ts.
Now Of lhe original blood Of the Morsans, it is not
easy to arrive at anything very certain; but it sp-
pears more than probable tina. The original, or Justin
Morgan stalhorw was begottOn on 3 common, or as
the best one third part bred mare, BY horse
called True Brton, or sometimes the Beautiful Bay.
Ii ia said that This horse was the charger OF Col.
Delaney Of Kings Bridge and was stolen from him
during the war Of Independence, and this, also, is
likely to be true. The Delaneys Of Kings Bridge
were great horse breeders and Gen. Delaney, the
father Of the Col Delaney in question, was the i'm
porter Of Ls.h and Wildar, and Of tho celebrated
Cub mare. In an advertisement Of the owner Of
True Brten, after the robbery, one Selah Norton
describes that horse IS got BY Traveller out Of De.
lancy's famous racing mare; and an sssempt has
been msde to show that the Traveller in question
was tie famous imported horse, Moretou's Trav-
eler, son of Troft's Partner, and that the racing
mare in question was the famous Cub mare Both
The hypothesis are untenable. MOretons Traveller
had been dead above forty years st the date Of Selah
Norton's advertisement in which True Briton is
described q being in the prime eflys, which Is
simply an absurdity. The assumption that the
racing mare, mentioned without name, was the
celebrated Cub mare, is for many reasons prcPos-
tesous. First because if she had been knows TO
Be the Cub marc, within few years after that marc
was on the stud, il would have been so stated, as
she was at that time, by all odds, the most famous
brood mare in America, so that her name being
stated would have added immeasurably to
the value Of her progeny. II she is not known TO
ave been the Cub mare there s no reason for sup
posipg her 70 have been SUCH but much reason for
supposing her 10 have been nothing Of the kind.
For, secondly, il il not PROBABLE that Colonel Do
lAncy would have ridden perfectly thoroughly
bred horse, rot ont Of the best racing mare in
America, in partiran warfare wherein it was the
m ,st probable thing in the world that he would DO
stolen, as he is said to have been, and still more 20
that be would have left him carelessy hitched OF
tavern door, without 90 much as servant to look
after him. Thirdly, apart from the fact stated
above, OF the date Of the death Of MoretOn's
Traveller, it is clearly absurd to believe that True
Driton used as a charger, should have been got BY
the beat horse out of the beat marc in America,
and m animal pndeaisby worth, even ut that
early day, prodigous sum Of money.
There is reason, however, for believing that
True Bri.ou was Q very highly bred horse OF
either a Wildsir or q Lsth strain, and, very
possibly, that the mother of the Justin Nor.
gan was begotten BY Wldair upon common
country marc of the Vermont breed, which Is,
probably, deducible from the Cleveland bays. That
The Morgan stock has been snce crossed with Cana
dian blood, no one can doubt who is acquainted
with the form Of the Canadian Norman, and with
the peculiar heavy and curly texture Of the h,ir Of
he names and tails Of that breed. Apart from
this il is known that the Morgan blood has
tnetares of the Messenger blood, from Messenger
himself. from HaniltOnian, con Of old Messenger,
out Of . Messenger mare whose dam is said to have
been o Thoroughbred Southern marc, and from
Msmbrino, o halfbred son Of old Messenger. Thers
j. also known cross Of King William Blood in tho
MorRaps, but il seems that in . majority OF In
stances the thorough blood came through halfo bred
mares. who were again slnted TO only the one
fourth or one-ffth part bred stations, sons Of the
Justin Morgan, which could no. BY any means have
been better than two thirds part bred horse, aud
which PROBABLY was not more than kaltbred, were
he even that out Of common low-bred mares. had
the family been propasated in the opposite way ~
TIE union Of Morgan mares with thoroughbred
such % Messenger, HamiltOsian or King Willism'
il would have been far better for tho race in all par
aoular.; bat the stntiEg Of halfbred Messenger
mares 10 the inferiorly bred Morgan stations ~as
move in the wrong direction, however good aud
rich TIE small portion Of the Lath or Wadair blood
in their veins, since it is sbsOiusely necessary TO
he Inc provement Of any race Of horses thai the
larger ,inesors of pure blood shLl be in tho sire,
nc. 10 the dam; IN othsr words, that one must
breed up, not down.
Hence Is appears tina. the only way BY which
A. ;rnyors the Morpsps OF today ia to reject the