Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1880-05-05

RECENT INVOLVEMENT IN THE BREEDING
OF HORSES-From the earliest times to
the present day it has been Il great mis-
fortune and loss to mankind that so little
attention has been paid to the breeding
and rearing of Il more perfect and power
full race of hol ses for farm and road work,
and the use of the city and large express
and truck wagon. Poets from the sub
lime Job down to the high spirited Byron,
have been profuse in their descriptions
and praises of the horse for war, the chase,
and the course; while historians, travellers
and sportsmen have been ever eloquent
over them in volumes of prose. Strange
that the most generally useful OF all the
different breeds of horses should, with few
exceptions, be ignored and passed by in
silence, and SO much be written and spo-
ken of others which, although requisite
for special purposes, and worthy OF high
admiration, have contributed less to the
benefit of humanity. But fortunately Il
great change in this respect has taken
place within the past few years in Europe
rs well us in America.
A numerous society, composed of noble
men, and landed gentry, and farmers of
Scotland, has recently been formed for the
purpose Of improving the breed of their
larger sort of horses. This society takes
the name of Clydesda(e, and that distin-
guished nobleman, Earl Dunmore has
been devoting considerable part of his
time during the past two years editing II
stud book of their horses, classed also as
Clydesdale. The first volume of this has
already been published, and the matter for
. ba oaoonI ic nollanfipn Enolan1 l.
zealously following the laudable example
set her by Scotland for what has long
been known as the Shire and other of her
best known breeds of horses. The prince
of Wales, Earl Ellesmere,and other noble
men are giving no little attention to the
getting out of their stud book, and the
whole landed interest in the united king
dom is fast waking up to the importance
of Improvement of this most useful of all
their breeds of horses.
Within the past three years two hundred
to one thousand guinoas tone thousand
to five thousand dollars) has been the
common price in Great Britain for select
heavy horses for breeding purposes, and
even fifteen hundred guineas (seventy five
hundred dollars) has been refused for a
few of the very choicest, while sixty to
eighty guineas 1.-TWO hundred and fifty to
four hundred dollars) is the ordinary price
of those for farm and dray work alone.
In France, Belgium, Holland, and few
districts OF northern Germany, prices have
also advanced considerably, and greater
attention is given than formerly to the
improvement of their horses, all of which
shows the rapidly increased interest in the
subject abroad. Nor has this matter been
neglected in America, particularly in the
past four years, during which large num-
bers of powerful, heavy animals have
been imported into Canada and the United
States from Great Britain and France,
with few also from Flanders. The
IClydesdale have been more generally pre-
ferred for Canada, while the Percheron
and Norman have taken precedence in our
own country.
For the Percheron and Norman in
America stud book was published in 1877
by Mr.. j. H. Sanders, of Chicago, Illinois.
A revised edition appeared the next year,
of two hundred and twelve large octave
pages, handsomely got up, with numer-
Gus fine engravings. The stud book is to
preserve an accurate record of the males
and females imported from France and
their full bred descendants, so that the
public may not be imposed upon hereafter
by unprincipled dealers palming off their
inferior grades for full breds.-A.B. Allen
in Harper's Magazine for February,