ried their masters' huntsmen and whippers, and made valuable country stallions. Those bred now are light, weedy, powerless and worthless in every national point of view. Our cavalry must feel this wonderful falling off. If they should be again brought to contend with some hostile power, it will be seen that although we have not lost the steel of our men, we have lost the energy of our horses. Let it not be overlooked that blood gives pace; pace is power. Blood carries weight; it is said that a thoroughbred horse carrying 32 stone for four miles, beat the best and strongest horse that could be found, not thoroughbred. Blood gives life; the thoroughbred horse lives longer in work than any other. Our horses have fallen off wonderfully since the battle of Waterloo; and those of our friends now, who were opposed to us then, have been improved as ours have been deteriorated. The Emperor of Russia also has so improved the horses of his Imperial Guard, that I believe he has 10,000 men better mounted than any 10,000 men in England, or anywhere else. The remedy is in our own hands. Let Her Majesty's plates of £100 be re-established for high weights and long distances; let the Prince of Wales throw his influence into the scales, and the nation follow the example-it is a national subject, and worthy of all the patronage that can be bestowed upon it. The Agricultural Societies of the United Kingdom should follow on with the Royal Agricultural Society, and call for weight carrying thoroughbred stallions. We may thus recover what we have lost, and again possess some useful animals, capable of doing good service to the country. Be it ever remembered that, however bad may be the horses available for the general use, those upon which the cavalry are mounted will be worse still; whilst if horses at large are better bred, the army will be better supplied. I have sent six mares fifty miles to a thoroughbred stallion that I saw at Battersea. I would advise the anxious breeder to look at those exhibited at the Royal Agricultural Show, with the view of selecting one for his purpose for the ensuing year; they are a few left, but they are few indeed. In conclusion, let me remark that most of the observations and opinions which I have expressed have not been adopted at random, as chance suggested, but have resulted from what may be called the statistics of the stable. It was my habit early in life to keep in the book for the year a detailed account of every horse I bought, his age, pedigree, color, quality, defects and native district, number him, and give him a name significant of the horse, as far as possible, to impress him on my memory. These were all entered when he was bought, and the chief incidents of his career were added from time to time afterwards. At the end of the year all these circumstances were brought together and formed a summary of the year's transactions, consisting of

The horses bought in.

The horses cast and sold out; why each was cast and sold.

Those killed accidentally; how killed.

Those that died; the cause of death, and where.

At the commencement of the new year all those horses remaining in stock were re-entered by my own hand, in a new book, which stated in whose possession they were to be found, with every important particular attached to them for further observation. As the list always contained several hundred horses, a great mass of evidence grew out of it, which often forced upon my notice views which I had by no means anticipated. Such views, properly grouped and recorded, confirmed by subsequent observation, may be considered as the legitimate laws for the breeding and management of horses, based upon what our neighbors call the logic of facts. And here I mention one case in particular as to the comparative duration of life of horses. Apart from accidental circumstances, they live longer in the same kind of work, in proportion as they are employed at a pace below what they are capable of going. "Pace kills," is an old proverb, and is equally true as it is old. The cart horse, working in a cart, is old at 16, and dies out generally at about 20 years of age. The coach horse, doing the same work, is old at 20, and finishes his career at about 25. The race horse, working at the same pace will work till 30 and sometimes till 35 years old. Each class must be understood to draw weights in proportion to the weight of the horses. I note these circumstances because I consider, first, that the value of my opinions depends upon their origin; next, because I hope that others may be induced to follow up the same system of observation; and lastly, to give an instance showing how every careful record of facts becomes a substantial contribution towards the advancement of knowledge. If by my advocacy of this cause I should produce such a change in the system of breeding horses as to recover the size and substance of the thoroughbred horses of the last century, I shall have the pleasure of feeling I have done my country important service.

THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF FEEDING.

BY STONEHENGE.

In adapting the quantity and quality of horse-keep to the wants of each horse, regard must be paid, first of all, to the small size of this animal's stomach, which affects all alike; secondly, to the work for which he is designed; and thirdly, to the peculiar constitution of each individual. From

the first of these causes the horse must never be allowed to fast for any long period, if it can possibly be avoided, it being found from experience that at the end of four hours his stomach is empty, and the whole frame becomes exhausted, while the appetite is frequently so impaired if he is kept fasting for a longer period, that when food is presented to him it will not be taken.

Previously to the introduction of railroads, harness horses were often required to do long distances in the day, and it was found that if the whole journey must be performed without stopping to bait, it exhausted the horse less to increase the pace up to nine or ten miles an hour than to dawdle over the ground on an empty stomach. If two horses are driven or ridnen fifty or sixty miles under similar conditions as to the weight they have to draw or carry, and the one is taken at the rate of six miles an hour, which will keep him fasting from eight and a half to ten hours, according to the distance, while the other has traveled fast enough to do it in six or seven hours, the latter will be less exhausted than the former, though even he would be all the better for a feed in the middle of the journey, the time devoted to this act being easily picked up by the increased energy which would be given by the corn. No horseman of experience is ignorant of these facts, and after a long day the hunting man who knows what he is about, will always be seen on the lookout for a feed of corn or a pint of oatmeal for his hunter, before he attends to his own wants.

The human stomach will bear hunger far better than that of the horse, and if the rider feels his appetite pretty keen, he may be satisfied that the animal which carries him is still more in want of food. The kind of work which the horse is intended for affects not only the quantity of food required, but also its quality. Thus very fast work, as in racing and hunting, strains the muscular system as well as the heart and lungs to the utmost, and therefore the food which is best fitted for the development of the former to the highest degree, consists of those kinds which present the elements contained in the muscular tissue in the largest proportions consistent with the due performance of the digestive powers. These are found in oats and beans. But nature herself teaches every animal instinctively to keep within such limits as are safe, and hence it is found that though every horse will greedily devour a peck or a peck and a half of corn daily, yet he will not go beyond this quantity, even though it is not sufficient for his wants, and in spite of his being deprived of every other kind of food. The demands of his muscular system are supplied by the corn, but there are certain saline matters in hay which are not found in the former, and being necessary for the performance of several important functions, the stomach receives its warning through the appetite, and no more corn is received

into it. On the other hand, the hard-worked horse, fed on hay alone, craves for corn, and will greedily devour almost any quantity put into his manger until he upsets his digestive powers, when the appetite for it ceases. It is found by experience that a certain proportion of hay and corn is best adapted to each horse according to the work he has to do, and his own particular constitution; so that in laying down rules for feeding, it is necessary first of all to ascertain what demands will be likely to be made upon the system. Few owners of carriage horses would like to see them driven to the door with their muscles showing the lines between them, as they ought to do in a race-horse when fit to run. Such a state of high training as will put the latter in condition would be impracticable for the former without wearing his legs out, and not only destroying his rounded and level appearance, but taking away the air of high spirit and life which tends so much to gratify the eye. Hence the feeding suited to give the one nothing but muscle is not fitted for the other, who must have more hay and less oats, as well as less work. So also in deciding upon the proportion, if any, of oats and beans, regard must be had to the amount of work which is demanded; for there can be no doubt that while admitting the good effects of beans in large quantities upon the severely tried cab or omnibus horse, they are injurious to the carriage horse, whose blood soon becomes heated under their constant use. Lastly, the peculiar constitution of each horse must be studied before it can be known whether the average quantity and quality of food which will suit the majority of horses doing the same kind of work, will be enough or too much for him. Some washy animals pass their food through them so quickly that they do not absorb from it onehalf of the nutritive elements contained in it. These must be fed largely if they are kept at work, and those articles of food must be selected for them which have a tendency rather to confine the bowels than to relax them. Independently of this extreme case, it never can with certainty be pronounced beforehand what amount of food will keep an untried horse in condition; but in a large stable an average can easily be struck, and it is this quantity alone which can be estimated here. In the following pages, therefore, I shall give a description of the several alimentary wants of the horse, and then show in what proportions they are found in the varieties of keep which have already been described, so as to enable the horse master to make his selection according to circumstances.

All these substances are found in the blood, but the composition of this fluid does not enlighten us as to the wants of the system, because it is continually receiving and giving off its various elements. The blood of a horse fed on highly nitrogenized food, does not differ on analysis from that of another which has been kept on the opposite kind of diet. Physio

logical research, however, tells us that muscle is chiefly composed of fibrin, and that every time a bundle of its fibres contract, a certain expenditure of this material is made, calling for a corresponding supply from the blood, which cannot be afforded unless the food contains it. Hence the badly fed horse, if worked, soon loses his flesh, and not only becomes free from fat, but also presents a contracted condition of all his muscles. And this science is confirmed by every day experience, and the fact is generally admitted that to increase the muscular powers of a horse, he must have a sufficient supply of nitrogenized food.

As I have remarked above, the nutrition of muscle requires fibrin, but in addition the brain and nerves must be supplied with fatty matter-phosphorus and albumen. The bones demand gelatine and earthy salts, and the maintenance of heat cannot be effected without carbon in some shape or other. But it is chiefly with nitrogenized food that we have to deal in considering the present question, there being plenty of the other substances I have mentioned in all the varieties of food which are not largely composed of fibrin. It may therefore be taken for granted that the hardly worked horse requires oats or beans, or both mixed together in varying proportions, together with such an amount of hay as will supply him with the starch, gum, sugar, fat and saline matters, which his system requires, while on the other hand, the idle animal does not use his muscular system. to any extent, and therefore does not require much or any oats or beans. The following table exhibits the proportions of these various elements in the several kinds of horse food most frequently used in this country:

RACE HORSES are fed upon the best upland hay, of which about six to eight pounds are given to each, on the average, daily, and from fifteen to twenty pounds of the best oats; in some cases beans being substituted for