GOVERNMENT HORSE-BREEDING DEPOTS.

New Zealand Times, Volume LVII, Issue 2583, 8 August 1895, Page 4

GOVERNMENT HORSE-BREEDING DEPOTS.

, Some time ago the 1 French correspondent of the London Field pave some particulars of an official visit the Minister of Agriculture paid .to..some.of the stallion depdts. He says :

“ At the Haras Dupin, where all the sires purchased by the Government arei first . sent before being assigned a ; station, a great feature was made of a parade of thorOughi bred sires; Dwhich included three'winners dfthe Grand Prix (Brace, Clamart and’Eagotaky),. three .winhers.bf the' French Derby (Zut, Cfiehd Royal, and Ragotsky), Erakatoa (sire of Dolma, Baghtehd 1, • Border : Minstrel: (winner of the Goodwood Gup), Homewood (winner of.the Cesarewitch), Boissy (winner of the International Steeplechase at Antcuil), and two other French-bred hqrsesj, The Condor and Mdflrje, 1 Much stress was laid upon the feet that the''maximum' fee for/aayjbf these horses was Tj^iand'it was polptodout with great trnth'that thejnso of these government depths oonsisteddn' placing' good sires at' the disposal! of Ismail, breeders for .very.; low fees., . Butat a subsoqufmt meeting of the Conboil;of' the-Frcnoh Haras, which,'Jiowever, is'only consultative,. it was 'rosolvedto advised the Minister to raise the maximnm fee from'Ll to-Ll6, the reason adduced In favour of this : change being that-the low fee now chafged ! IS unfair-upon-private breeders, wbp eannot afford to.opmpete witb,. tbe State. ‘ I i: do not," however,' think'that as all these thoroughbred sires of any ' value cover, at fees?.Tangl,ng;:;fiora BIO; to, L200,' their: services, would'not be-utilised by small breeders nhdSr ahy ; circumstances. The latter are now encouraged to get good' mares, with the certainty of being able to secure the, services of suitable sires, and it does not seem Wise policy’ to discourage them by raising the fees, the probability being that the SjinUtoy, of Agriculture < will see the matter m the same light- and decline to put • tho proposal Into force. He' will be the less inclined to do so ; now that the surplus'resulting from the pan-muiuel enables him 'to purchase stallions of good; class without trenching upon the ordinary, estimates of Bis department, and how large this surplus is may be gathered from the feet that at the last meeting Qf tho commit(eo appointed tq apportion It nearly BIOS,OOO iwas djvided among, various,,hospitals .and, other charitableinstitutions. ’. A - sum of L 30,000 was given for building, hospital for children to bq treated by the naw method discovered by X)r Boux ; for the- cure of d jphx theria, and L4OOQ is to go for erecting a much ; nepded hospital for jockeys and stablemen at Chantilly, while sums ranging from'ußSOOQ to 810 will be paid over to some forty* three other hospitals and benefit assoota. fions. Whan l one reflects that this(surplus baa been earned in; little more than a twelve-month, ’ and that the which the pari-mutuel yield are,; after the 7- percent, commission has been deducted, nearly always.: larger" than: can bo obtained , in. the ring 1 , 'Some idea inky be formed of how iaijre a margin Of profit is made by tbe book* makers.”