PACTS FOR FARMERS.

Waikato Times, Volume IV, Issue 214, 23 September 1873, Page 2

PACTS FOR FARMERS.

HORSES AND HORSE BREEDING-.' (Austuvlun).

"It lias been frequently stated by breeders that i£iß^Bß more difficult to select a good ma.ro to breed from good horse, because she possesses seme what opposite qual^^^H ti«g. To a horse as above described might be put ahal^^^H bred or three-foui ths bred mare, the younger the betteifl^Bfl provided she be fully matured. It is a great mistake tB^BJ imagine that a hard-worked \vorn-oufc old mare when untifl^BJ for wort will do for breeding. This is a great but ven^^H popular error. The mare should be young, sound, aucfl^BJ with a good constitution ; she should be lung and roomj^BH to give Bpace for the growth of the fcetus. ami with thes^BH . there should be compactness of form and shortness of l^B^H —as the whole of the colonial horses have a tendency p^^H grow to leg. Peculiarity of form and constitution' wilß^BJ also be inherited. Thi3 is a most important but neglecte<B^B consideration ; for however desirable or even perfect k^^B^H have been the conformation of the siro, a very good poinfl^BJ may be neutralised or lost by the defective form or wanß^BJ of blood of the mare. It is necessary that the essentiaß^B paints should be good in both parents, and that suimß^B minor defect in either should be met and rid of b}B^B excellence in that particular point of the other. The unß^B skilful and careless breeder will often so badhMJair thcflßJ animals that the good points of each will be in^upanneiß^B lost ; the defects of both will be increased, and tfrflfe^^^H duce will be far inferior to both sire and dam. A wcflß^B known authority has written that the roadster may and^H should, like the hunter, possess different degrees of blood^^B according to the nature of the country and the work re-S^J quired oi him. When approaching to ' the thorough-bredß^ he may be a splendid animal, but he will be hardly fitted^H for his work-ins legs will be too slender, his feet too small, his stride too long, and be will rarely be able to trot. Three parts, or half, and for the horse of all work evenflH less than that, will make a good and useful animal. ■■ "The hackney should be a hunter in miniature withHH those exceptions : — His height should rarely exceed I<^H hands and lm. He will be sufficiently strong amlVmon^^H pleasant for general work below that standaid. He sh(|^^H be of more compact form than the hunter, and have rfIBBB bu^k according to his height ; for he has not merely tVj^B stand an oucasienal although severe burst, but a great deau^J of evcry-day work. ' Bj "It is of essential consequence that the bones beneatkßl the knee should be deep aud ( flat, and the tenden not ticd^J in. The Fpastern should be short, and although oblique BJ or slanting, yet far less so than that, of, the race-hone ,^B and considerably less than that of the hunter. There Bl should be obliquity enough to give pleasan WLtion, but BJ not enough to render the horse incapable of th#wear andßl tear of constant and sometimes hard work. " H " Of the intelligence of the hackney many instances are Bj recorded. In Cunmngham's ' History of New South Wales,' BJ vol. l,p. 298, he says : — ' A friend of mine in tbebabiLjof H riding a good deal found that whenever he approach Ajn. HJ gully his horse always opposed his wish to cross at' the par^B licular spot; he had been' accustomed to, always endeavonn^H to lead off to another part of the gully, where no passag^H was' known to exist by his rider. Resolving to see whitbe^H the horse would go, he gave him the rein, and soon fount^B himself taken over the gully by a route he bad never beforcß— 1 followed. Still, however, thinking that tbe former way wasfll the nearest, tie was curious enough to have both measured,™ when be found the horse's judgment correct, that way beiug ■ the nearest by several hundred yards.' V " The carriage horse is a profitable description to breed, ■ and is to be produced from the blass" of mare once tnown m I the colony is tho Cleveland marc, put to a horse of sufficient I height and quality to produco the animal desired. A good '■ upstanding three-fourtha-bred mare with such a horse as ■ Danmavlt (exhibited at our last show by Mr Woodhouso, of I Appin) would produce admirable carriage horses; or the I imported horse Shakspeare Oately owned by Mr Cleevc, of Bungarrabbde) with a roomy well-actioned raare would give the desired kind. " The carriage horse should be tall, deep-chested, well up in tho withers, with good slanting shoulders, flat in tbe le^ and with sufficient strength for his work. The knee actiJP and high lifting of the feet in the carriage horse is deemed an'excollei cc, because it adds to the grandeur of his appearance 5 but it is necessarily accompanied by much wear and I tear of the legs and feet, and this becomes very soon apparent. I " The cavalry horse is likely to be much sougkt for in the I Auitralian 'colonies |for the requirements of the Indian ser- I vice, and contains a different proportion of blood, according I to the nature of the service required, or the caprico of tho I commanding officer. | Those of the household troops are from half to three-fourths bred. Some of the lighter regi- J ments hafe more blood in them. The Englifh cavalry ■ horses were formerly largo and beavj. To his imposing size 1 was.added action as imposing. The horse was' trained to uM beautiful and grand - method of going; but he was oftevM found deficient in roil service, forlhis very action dimimshd^B his speed, and added to Ins labor and fatigue. ' "A great change has taken place in the character of the B English war horses. Lightness and activity has succeeded ■ to bulk and strength, and for skirmishing and sudden attack ■ the change is an improvement. Iff is particularly found to ■ be so in the long run, and rapid marches, which the lighter 1 troops scarcely regard, while the heavier horses, with their I more than comparative weight to' carry," are knocked up. I "As the cavalry horse is likely to be a saleable animal, j being useful for nearly every purpose, lie will, no doubt , be a profitable description of horse to breed, and would be pioduced from a sound roomy mare with plenty df bone, and three-partS bred/oc What would be more suitable, a thorough- - bred stallion, if the proper class of horse* could be got. The tendency of our horses from thoroughbred stock to weedi*| ness arid lightness of bone is so great that the utmost carß l ; is necessary in selecting a stallion whoso compactness, constitution, and symmetry generally would warrant the breeder in putting mares to him, for it. is indisputable that aver} tfreat proportion of the country breeders, and more particularly where blood alone has been so p'roiniriently regarded have produced a lot of useless weeds which have been spld m ' the various markets of the colony where their prices have been measured by shillings instead x>f pounds. Many years ago tho Australian horses, or Welters, as^tbey were termed, were considered" by far the best that reached the Indian market ; their good qualities arid their suitability for cavalry purposes were very generally admitted, and no doubt if we could send thei same sort of horses now they would bd eagerly bought up, but unfortunately we have not got 'them. I am in the hope, however, that if the profit to be derived from producing gOud weight-carrying and cavalry horses bo considered by our farmer's and graziers, that more attention will be given to tho pursuit, and we may hope to witness" the results in a very few years. r . " I believe in Victoria they have been successful^n then* Studs' in producing cavalry horses and weight-carriers and hunters, where they have had recourse t6 the active and well-built draught stallion, with a half or three-fourths-bred mare ; and I think on the whole, to the 'general b^eder, it would be found to be more successful to' try these strains here. Though an earnest believer in the blood horse for nearly every purpose, I cannot help thirking that they require more care and far greater attention in tho selection and adaptation of tno sexes. More than this, from tlio number of weakly and weedy animals all through the country, it were bettor to got back to bone and substance j and this I feel is more likely to be surmounted by the means already mentioned. " Our position in comparison to Victoria is sometimes unfavorably referred to, on the" deficiency of that class of weight-carrying horses which we may call hunters ; still I can recollect, and it must' be in the recollect ion of old colonists, that we had at one time as good horsei of this class hen? as could be found, £ venture to say, out of Eng- \ land ; and I think in tho etrly days of Melbourns and Adelaido some of them reached these inarkel6, where they did not fail to distinguish themselves, I have only to name Uighjlyer, British Yeoman, Wallaby, Black Prince, and Slasher, to awaken the memory of many residents of Sydney to the quality and wonderful performances in tho huntingfield and across country of tbeso horses, and many others of a similar description. Of late years this description of horse has not been co numerous in this colony, and this may be traced to several causes, to tho discontinuance of what wero- kn,ow ( n as welter races, to the abandonment of steeplechasing, ond tho old English sport of hunting having died out. (To bo continued:)

Vbhdict OF "N9TPBOVEN." — Much misconception seems to prevail in the eoutborn division of this kingdom in regard to this verdfct.'wlMeh* is peculiar to tlie criminal' law of Scotland. In a recent number of Notes and Queries the editor of that journal, in answer to a covrespondentjstates in substanco that tin alleged criminal in whoso cnse a verdict of " not proven " hns been returned may a^ain bo sent to trial on the production of new evidence of guilt, than which, nothing could possibly be in<fcre absurd. No individual charged with the commission of crime can bo tried a second Ume for ttio same offenco oh any pretence whatever, not if afterwards could be adduced the most unequivocal proofs of guilt. In criminal causes the verdict of a jury is in every instance final as'rogards the specific chnrge. The dlflereuco between "not proven " and "not guilty" is simply moral in its character, and the verdict ia returned only in such cases whore Mbcre^ is ''insufficient evidehco to convict the alleged criminal, while there yet remain such shades of suspicion ns do not warrant his dismissal without some fovmnr statement. Practically " not proven" amounts to a verdict of acquittal j morally, it doos not. * Tho verdict of " Aot glulty," as pronounced by a 3colch jury, denotes the jury's conviction of the ullcgcd criminal's absolute innocence ! " not proven," 011 tho otlier hand, suBi)icki^is of guilt, only short of positive proof. Tho individual in respect of whom the latter deliverance 18 given goes without the penalty of the law, and that is all. •