The herald., 1893-09-18

these United States, the thoroughbred
won the popular approval. The idea OF
trotting horses against the watch" was
to them OF great singularity. Of late
years very many trotting horses have
been shipped to England. Australia.
Austria, France, Germany, South Amer
lea and Russia, costing the purchaser
from $4,000 up to $4,000. Gentlemen
who are in a position to know say the
business is as yet only in its infancy,
and certainly this seems feasible. for
when countries abroad come to know
the trotter as do Americans, they will
be as enamored of him as are we.
xSx
1t is, at this day, rather strange to
contemplate that all our domestic ami
mails have been, to a great degree, mold
ed by the hand of man. The same uEi-
formity that now characterizes the bison,
the elk and the deer, belong to the
horse. the cow, the sheep and the hog
in state of nature. The pondsrous
English cart horse, the fleet courser and
the diminutive Shetland pony are all de-
scended from originals that were as uni
form in their characteristics as are the
members of herd OF bison once to be
found on our western prairies. The
shorthorn, the Hereford, the Devon, the
Jersey, and all the various breeds into
which our cattle are now divided, are
descended from the most original type.
The changed condition of life to which
they have been subjected by domestica-
tion, the variety of uses to which they
have been put; the food upon which
they have subsisted; the climate in
which they have been reared, and the
selections for special uses have produced
the variations which are now go appar'
ent. Very much of this divergence is
due to climatic influences, which alone
are sufficiently powerful, in the changes
OF food and habit which necessarily fol-
low, to account for nearly all the vari-
eties which have been produced.
warm climate and bountiful supply OF
nutritious food from birth to maturity
promote growth and Developments, while
9 ecanty supply of food and rigorous
climate have tendency to retard growth
and development.
A knowledge of the effect Of heat and
cold upon general development has been
taken advantage of by breeders. for the
purpose of producing dwarf specimens.
The breeder of Bantam fowls is careful
to have his chicks hatched late in the
eeason, 30 that the early approach OF
cold weather may stop their growth.
The bleak, barren and tempeetuous
islands--lying in the high latitude OF 30
and 60 degrees-north of Scotland, with
their scanty subsistence and long win
ters, have dwarfed the horse until he
appears as the tiny Shetland pony,
while from tho same original, the rich
herbage, nutritious grains and mild
climate 10 degrees further south, on the
coast of France, have given US the i'm
mense draft horses of Normandy and
Flanders. This proves that the old say
ing "half horse goes down his throat"
is exact truth. No man can raise val
liable colt by turning him out on hill
and letting him "rustle." The rustling
process remains in evidence years alter
wards.
Southern California is now recognized
az one CT the foremost horse producing
centers OF the United States, hence OF
the world; and it possesses every adj
vantage consistent with the production
OF good horses. The climate ia the best:
the land unexcelled for the growing OF
grain; the upland hills seem to exude
verdure, while the darker green alfalfa
flourishes in all our valleys. A little
more attention to detail somew hat
closer application OF the rule that "like
produces iike;" trife more liberality
on the part of many breeders; patron
age of the highest bred and fastest
| stations within reach proper care Of
colts when young-all these things will
! bring our section to the front and fill
our pockets with coin of the realm.
x*%
In my column OF recent date / epoke
of the large number OF meetings held
in this state and expressed the opinion
that there were too many for California's
population and the number OF race
horses we have here. 1t wac an opinion
based on observation, and although
many will not 1T the present time agree
with me, time will prove the correctness
of it. The American people want the
best, and particularly is this 60 of the
claes of people who patronize the race
track. The best comes high, and the
beet, in the case of races, means the
biggest purses and the best tracke.
California, with her population aud the
amount of money invested in horseF,
has q larger number of race meetings
than any other state in the union. l
take this as one reason why 80 many of
the crack horses OF California go across
the mountains. True it is that we can
not expect to compete with our older
neigh bors across the mountains in
racing, but we can have better meetings
if we have fewer of them. 1t costs
money to keep up race course, if
it be kept in proper condition. and to-
day in this state there are a score OF
tracks which could be greatly improved
if the association only had the money
with which to make these improve
ments. Have fewer meetings, better
tracks, offer larger purses. and my word
for it, horse racing will be more inter
estiny than it now is.
William Wood proved that be has
some of his last years speed stored
away at the race in the capital city
Wednesday. The wires said after the
two heats had been won by the fast con
of Steinway: "The race record of Cali
fornia was lowered this afternoon. to
2:081s. Ten thousand people saw w.
Wood beat Diablos in the first
heat in wonderful time over a
track that is not noted for being fast"
Diablo would have taken the second
heat OF the pace in Sacramento, but he
broke when near the wire and lost the
heat. Diablo, the 4-year-old son of
Charles Derby, is a race horse. He
showed quarter in the race at Sacra-
man m in 90 eeconIs and undouhtedlv