Sports
p. 110, where it is narrated that in the year 1779, a serjeant of Elliots' Horse, "who was reputed one of the best swordsmen of the day, challenged his sword against a Mr. Harry Smith's staff (quarterstaff) to draw first blood. At the expiration of four minutes, the squire gave his adversary the RABBITS] end of his staff in the forehead, which laid him flat on his back, and gained the victory.
The staff, which is 7 ft. 10 in. in length, is now preserved, and has thirteen cuts of the sword."
This mention of the delivery of a point would seem to agree with our conjecture that the quarterstaff might have been the practice weapon of the Partizan (whose nomenclature, by the way, is equally misty), and would thus have been used both to cut and thrust. Also, in Sir Walter Scott's account of the "bout" before alluded to, "Gurth darted his staff at his (antagonist's) face with his left hand."
There has been, we believe, only one attempt to reduce the play of quarterstaff to a method or manual exercise, and it is given in a small work by Thomas A.
McCarthy, called Quarterstaff: a Practical Manual, with 23 figures of position, published by W. Swan Sonnenschein and Co., Paternoster Row, London, 1883. 24 pp., 12mo.
In our opinion, however, there is little to be gained by a system, and we would rather say: Let the combatants take their stand opposite each other, with the quarterstaves poised in their two hands, in the manner which is most conveient to each, whether fingers up or fingers down, right or left leg forward as they please.
Let either make a "hit" or a "point" wherever he can get one in, with either end of his staff, and let the other stop the blows as he may. All is fair in quarterstaff, and the combatants will learn for themselves more quickly than any book can teach them, the possibilities of this healthy and fascinating exercise. The same dress that is necessary for the practice of broadsword, is suitable for that of the quartertaff, with the addition of a left hand padded glove.
F. H. HUTH.
QUOITS. This game is played by driving two iron pegs into the ground 19 yards apart, but it can be altered by agreement to any distance varying from 15 to 30 yards.
It is usual to fix on the weights of each quoit. The quoit is a flattened ring of iron thick at its inner and thin at its outer edge; the pin is variously called spud, hob, or spike. To play it properly, a man should possess considerable strength in the arms and shoulders, and a quick eye will enable him to acquire the requisite pitch.
The players are generally two or four-two on a side. Each player has two quoits and throws one round, endeavouring to fall over the hob; after each has had a turn, the first recommences, and so on, throwing back to the hob whence they commenced.
The quoit is held with the forefinger along its outer edge, in which there is a small dent for the end of the finger to lie in without being cut. The two surfaces are held between the thumb and other fingers, and the quoit is pitched with a slight rise and with a rotary motion to make it pass smoothly through the air. The score dedepends upon the quoit falling on the hob, or as near it as possible. A ringer, that is, a quoit which surrounds the pin, scores two; two ringers count four. If a player's two quoits are nearer the hob than his antagonist's, he scores two; if he has but one nearer, he scores only one, but when the nearest quoits are equidistant and belong to different players, neither scores. F. T. POLLOK.
RULES.
I. The distance from pin to pin shall be as agreed; the player shall stand level with the hob and deliver his quoit with the first step. 2. No quoit which measures more than 8 in. external diameter shall be used; the weights may be unlimited or as agreed upon. 3. The hobs to be an inch above the surface of the ground, which should be, if possible, clayey, or sufficiently soft for the quoits to be partially embedded. 4. All measurements should be taken from the pin to the nearest visible part of the quoit; the quoit and the soil must not be disturbed. 5. No quoit shall count unless fairly delivered in the clay free from the outer rim. No quoit on its back shall count unless it holds the clay or is knocked out by another quoit. No quoit rolling on the ground shall count unless it first strikes another quoit or the pin. 6. Each player must deliver his quoits in succession, his opponents then following. 7. The fiat of an umpire shall be final in cases of dispute.
RABBITS.-The rabbit, considering its size and insignificance, has probably been more productive of trouble among the human race than any other four-footed animal that one can readily name, hardly excepting the racehorse; on its account political factions have fought unceasingly, and legislation, beneficent or the reverse, has followed close upon its scut. For years the Antipodes have been up in arms against the beast, and thousands of pounds have been spent to discover some method for its extermination in the colonies. Poison, the importation of vermin, destruction of its food by fire, even the dissemination of most loathsome diseases among what some were wont to term the "feeble folk," have all been tried in vain.
It was generally thought that, after the gener passing of the Ground Game Act, the rabbit would diminish in numbers and possibly increase in value, his place among the items of our food-supply standing very high, more particularly in the manufacturing districts. Leeds and Sheffield were, and are still, amongst the best markets for a consignment of dead rabbits. Like most prognostications as to the effects of the Ground Game Act, the prophecy was falsified, and rabbits are in the aggregate probably as plentiful as ever in this country, although their habitat and ownership have considerably altered. The tenant farmer now looks with a keen eye to his half of the ground game, and in most cases tries to steal a march upon his landlord's keepers in its acquisition. Unfortunately the deadly steel trap is not always, indeed very rarely, placed inside the "burrow" or bury," as is contemplated by the Act, but it lies outside many a dry ditch, in a furrow or hedgerow, waiting for what pheasant, hare, or partridge it may devour. “ As to a humane gin to take rabbits alive and painlessly, we have accomplished that, and the contrivance has been in use upon the Rhiwlas Game Farm, Bala, for the purpose of transferring rabbits alive to the warrens, for many years. No inconvenience or pain whatever is felt by the captive, who continues peacefully browsing around the peg that holds it, until the keeper arrives to transport it to a new home.
In cover-shooting, the rabbit is not so much in evidence as he was before the passing of the Ground Game Act; indeed, except where covers are within an enclosed park, or some such demesne, ground game is nowadays generally conspicuous by its absence.
Keeping Under. It seems a waste of words almost to describe the various methods of keeping rabbits down, as nothing very new has been invented. Long nets and gate nets for the poachers, the ferret and purse-net for farmers, schoolboys and gamekeepers, the pea-rifle for the ambitious, the lurcher for the loafer, the pitfall for the lazy, and the steel trap and gin for the professional; these efficient, though antiquated, weapons still constitute the main methods of attacking the rabbit, the gun being in the main only an auxiliary and principally used for purposes of sport.
With regard to gins, humane or otherwise, it may be as well to describe, for the benefit of the tiro, the best and most accepted way of setting them.
Choose a frequented run, one well covered with herbage, if possible, to conceal the apparatus, either on the flat, or, better still, on the side of a hill. Select the narrowest part of it, between the "jumps" a [RABBITS of the rabbit; his squatting places can easily be distinguished by the herbage being flattened out into a wider space. A rabbit, let me mention, does not, when unpressed and at his ease, run down the rack, so to speak, but seeks his goal by a series of leaps or jumps, stopping every few yards to squat before going on again. Having, then, pitched upon a narrow part of the run, drive the big peg firmly into the ground at the side of the run with a wooden mallet; let this be well hidden by the grass, heather, or what not; then give a hitch or bend to the centre of the wire to hold it in a loop just four inches in diameter. Next, stick the carrying peg in the ground to hold the loop (which should just easily go round your closed fist) at an acute angle to the run, preferably in the grass at the side, or otherwise concealed, four inches from the ground, and with the runner of the noose on the low side, so that the loop may run easily along the wire. Properly set, the catch loop should stand up at right angles or nearly so from the support peg, elevated above the surplus wire. If the latter be at the top, the noose will not run so freely; this can advantageously be hidden with bits of cut grass, leaves, &c., as also may the string which connects the wire with the holding peg. The time for setting all kinds of gins and traps is very important, and should be so chosen that as long a period as possible elapses before the hour at which the rabbit comes forth for its morning or evening meal, that in the meanwhile the scent of the human hand may die out. From nine to eleven in the morning for the evening catch, and from ten to midnight for the morning will be found to be the most suitable hours. Make as few marks in the grass and as little disturbance as possible, and always work in gloves when dealing with rabbits or rats.
An experienced hand can so manipulate and set his gins as to catch buck or doe rabbits at will, the difference in the length of the jumps being well known to the wily snarer, who sets his snares accordingly.
Increasing Stock. -So much for the taking of the rabbit; now for a few words as to the best method of increasing the stock.
Of course, all ground vermin must be kept down as close as possible. Ruthless war must be waged on stoats, weasels, cats, and the like. The rabbit has the advantage of being able to bolt underground at will, in consequence of which the depredations of winged vermin need not be a cause of very serious anxiety, although the buzzard is, where he still exists, an active and untiring enemy. The great secret in getting up a RABBITS] large stock of ground game, whether hares or rabbits, is to get annual change of blood.
Too much stress cannot be laid on this point. Buy, or otherwise acquire, bucks from your neighbours, and from those neighbours more especially who live furthest off, and you will have plenty of rabbits. Our own plan is to kill off nearly all the rabbits in the warrens as early as possible, leaving the ground untainted for as long a period as can be managed, and then restock in January and February. In killing off, of course, we leave a certain number of does; fortunately, the buck rabbit, as is the case with the cock grouse, is the bolder and puts himself first into ficial rabbit preserve I will now attempt to describe.
Find a field or rough open space, either partially or wholly surrounded by woods in which the rabbits live and breed. Let this be walled round, and let holes be made in the wall at regular intervals, and closed by wooden or iron shutters at will. Encourage the rabbits to feed in your walled-in ground. (The best way to feed rabbits in winter time is with hay put in low miniature racks with wooden bars, such as are used for feeding sheep, only, of course, close to the ground, and of a smaller size suited to the rabbit. Never give turnips; they scour your rabbits and kill them off with STOPPING HOLES BEFORE A RABBIT DRIVE. danger. Such bags as have been procured in our warrens would have been impossible, had not this constant change of blood been rigorously insisted on. The cartridges used should be lightly loaded Schultze Powder, charged with only three-quarters of an ounce of No. 3 shot, which is the proper charge for rabbit shooting.
Do not, when getting up your stock of rabbits, allow any admixture of Belgian hare or any other even approximately tame blood to creep in with a view to increasing the size of your animal, for disease and decimation are certain to follow such disastrous introduction. a A warren, or shooting park, for rabbits can be made anywhere; even a plain grass field can be made to serve the purpose, and such an one has been turned to good account in Carnarvonshire, which thoroughly arti- VOL. III dysentery.) Of course, the beasts soon get quite at home in your enclosure. A night or two before you shoot, shut down the shutters, and the thing is done.
An improvement would be, to my mind, to make the shutters of light iron bars to swing outwards from the cover into the preserve, shambles, or whatever we choose to designate the scene of slaughter; the rabbits would soon learn to use these, and as the gratings would swing back of themselves, preventing the return of the tenants, your enclosure would soon fill itself without any particular attention on the part of the keepers. Care must be taken, however, not to leave the huge trap too long without emptying, or else to supply plenty of food inside, or the rabbits would starve.
The arrangements for the Battue" are as follows:-The whole space is laid out in lines of some 20 to 30 yards in breadth, marked out by heaps of sticks or brushwood euphemistically termed "castles," artistically arranged on faggots at the bottom, so that the whole structure shall lift up easily. If you wish to make your captives extra comfortable, put a few half drain tiles, split down the middle, under each heap for them to sit in should it rain.
On the day of reckoning, each gun takes up his position and walks slowly down the TAKING A RABBIT FROM A SNARE. open space between the heaps of brushwood, keeping good line and looking right or left as his attendants lift them up. A boy or two dog his heels to run after and capture the cripples, otherwise the intervening spaces are kept clear. Two beaters, armed with stout poles, walk on either side of each heap, and simultaneously at a bugle sound from the headkeeper, every "castle" is lifted up, while a third man, walking behind the other two, vigorously prods the natural mattress below, on which one bunny or more is reclining. When every heap has been turned over and its contents accounted for, or missed, and the line of guns and beaters have reached the boundary wall, ground is taken to the right or left, the line reformed with fresh hummocks to conquer, and a repetition of the particularly edifying process goes on.
This is in truth shooting made easy; a man in a bath-chair has been known to par- [RABBITS ticipate in the performance; it is not a bad way, though, to teach youngsters to be quick and careful with their weapons, while an odd pheasant that has somehow got bottled up in a heap occasionally helps the bag.
Beating. In beating for rabbits in any kind of cover, always instruct your beaters to poke, not beat; a rabbit in a bush will refuse to go out for any kind of cudgelling; in fact, I have seen them beaten to death sooner than move, whereas the gentlest little prod from the end even of a switch will send them flying.
It may be useful here to observe that the way a rabbit's head is pointed when at rest is the way he goes, so that if you are lucky enough to detect him in his retreat, you can without difficulty place yourself in the most favourable position to finish him.
Remember, also, that it is impossible to drive hares down-hill and up-wind to guns, and almost equally difficult to manipulate rabbits in these directions. In common with pheasants and all sorts of game, rabbits have a keen sense of smell, and will sooner a thousand times try to break back through the most compact line of beaters, stand they almost leg to leg, than go forward where, even though no danger be visible, their noses teach them that their most dreaded enemy is located.
Too little attention is paid to this point when organising big ground game shoots, as also to the question of "stopping," few keepers recognising the fact that rabbits require keeping off the ground that has been beaten quite as much as pheasants. A net should be run and duly guarded at proper intervals by responsible human beings-old women are not bad, if not gun-shy-or a sufficiency of stops should be placed to guard the exhausted beat.
Although a certain number of rabbits will always lie close and afford sport, yet the experienced keeper well knows that considerably more will keep creeping ahead, and a large proportion of such will inevitably escape the gun, as instinct leads them on to the beaten ground and consequent safety; and beaters using one hand to beat and trailing a rope with the other, held, of course at the further end by the next beater, will do far more in thick grass, or any cover over which a rope will pass, than will beaters armed with sticks alone. Rabbits are far more frightened of a rope than of any stick.
Should you wish to keep rabbits out of any particular bury or burrow, say in a shrubbery, pleasure-ground, lawn, or what not, an excellent plan is to put a piece of rabbit's paunch down each hole and then RABBITS] block up the opening. No rabbit will come near the place for weeks. The same applies to scratches under a wire fence or other obstruction, where rabbits are attempting to break in; indeed, a piece of flannel placed upon the spot of forcible entry will often drive away the intruder.
But be careful not to use rabbit paunches for manure, at any rate not till they have been decomposed in soil for many months; they are, when fresh, most destructive to vegetation of any sort.
Whilst on this "savoury subject," it may be as well to suggest that pits, dug beforehand at convenient spots for the accommodation of whoever presides over the last obsequies of our subject, are a cleanly and sanitary precaution, and that no rabbit should be paunched until the blood has set, or whilst warm. The pits when used can be filled in with soil.
Packing. In packing rabbits for market, let them get quite cold and stiff, then lay them in layers in hampers, turning the heads over the shoulders so as to fit the carcases well into the interstices; press them in all round; let there be no shaking about.
They should come out a compact mass. Fill in the top of the hamper with clean straw or fern. Do not believe in those nice-looking baskets with holes across them to sling the rabbits on. A porter is quite sure to throw the whole affair upside down into the van. Hang your rabbits up for a night before packing, then, if at all wet, dress the fur over with a curry comb and finish off with a good hard brush. The appearance of your merchandise at market is vastly improved by these simple precautions.
Laying out. In laying out rabbits for shooting, do not use ferrets or anything but gas tar, which is cheap enough. The proper way to set out rabbits is to send men round with spades, and block every hole with earth, which must be sprinkled on the outside with tar from a can. In twenty hours the rabbits will scratch out for food, and carry with them to their dinners a recollection of the unsavoury scent of the gas tar. The men should then go and again block the holes and again besprinkle the stoppings with the tar; let this operation be repeated every day until the last before shooting.
Four or five days will complete the whole process, and you will find every rabbit lying out. If this is done in a wood, they will be found lying in the rough fields around, if in a park or warren in the cover nearest to their habitations.
Do not believe your keeper if he tries to insist upon the use of ferrets a lengthy operation, and ruinous to your stock-as the mere scratch of a ferret is poisonous to a rabbit, although, if you can find your rabbits out and manage to run a ferret whose coat has been well saturated with train oil (avoid paraffin, it burns the poor animal) through the burys, the rabbits will not return to them for a considerable time.
Fencing. Now as to the best way of fencing rabbits, out or in.
Wire-netting forms the best, lightest, and cheapest fence for rabbits, whether for park, warren, or plantation. A special kind is made nowadays-I get mine from Boulton and Paul, of Norwich, graduated as to THE KEEPERS AND THEIR EQUIPMENT. its meshes from bottom to top, very small at the bottom to stop the baby bunnies, and gradually increasing in size as it ascends.
This is the most effectual plan. Have your posts cut to stand 4 ft. out of the ground (I am quoting now from my book, "Rabbits for Powder and Rabbits for Profit," p. 42, published in 1888-so its instructions have been proved reliable by time). Make them of larch, or, still better, of oak, or iron if you please; if of wood, be sure to char them well before fixing in the ground. The stouter they are, the better; and they should be round, or at least triangular, with the blunt side outermost. These posts should then be driven into the ground 4 ft. apart, and a barbed wire run all round them on the top, or, better still, an inch or two below, so as to offer the firmest resistance to any animal pushing against it. At the height of 3 ft. 6 in. from the ground, or even 3 ft., fix on each post iron or wooden arms to carry a black annealed wire on both sides of the posts, outside and in, so as to turn over your wire netting both ways, to prevent rabbits from scrambling and climbing up the wire and thus entering, or escaping CC2 from, the enclosure. Rabbits will learn to climb like cats. I have often seen them do it myself, so that it is absolutely necessary that the wire netting should be turned both outwards and inwards, not only at bottom, but at top, to give you a really secure fence. Another black annealed wire should be stapled on the posts on the outside, or that furthest from the rabbits.
From this the wire netting should be turned both ways over the other wires, supported by the projecting arms. Of course, it will be necessary to piece, or attach, a loose strip of wire netting to form one of the turns over. Another annealed wire should be stapled on to the post 21 in. from the ground, and yet another quite close to the soil, underneath which let the netting be again turned outwards and inwards some 5 or 6 in., lying along the surface of the ground. Then you have a perfectly secure fence, both ways, and, strange though it may appear, not a rabbit will scratch out, while, if you sink the wire netting straight into the ground after the usual fashion, escapes will be frequent, and a man's time almost entirely taken up in blocking and repairing the holes where the rabbits scratch out and in. The grass and other herbage soon grows up through the turned-in wire, and forms a matted surface through or underneath which the rabbits will not attempt to scratch, their habit being to go right up to any obstacle, and then dig downwards until they get underneath it, when out they bolt; fortunately, they never go right away and tunnel under.
Having now got your rabbit-proof fence complete and in order, do not forget to put some ladder-stiles to get over it at the points most frequently used, or even a couple of stumps, one each side, to enable a man to stride over; this will save your fence and also your knickerbockers from the effects of wear and tear. Now, having got your rabbits safely housed, the next thing to do is to see that no depredators help themselves without leave. To guard against long netting, put parallel lines of barbed wire pegged up 3 or 4 in. from the ground at right angles to the spot at which the nets would have to be set. Leave plenty of cut brambles and thorns about; loose bundles of barbed wire rolled round short thick pieces of wood are also awkward for a net. Drive your rabbits in early on moonlight nights; if there be no poachers about, it is a good habit for them to get into their holes at once on sight or sound of a dog.
Beware of midnight ferreting with purse nets; this is the most dangerous form of all [RABBITS poaching, and the most difficult to detect.
A poacher gets into some quiet part of your warren, park, or cover, with no dog, nothing but his ferrets and nets. He lays himself down in the fern and quietly goes to work; and, unfortunately, rabbits will bolt well to ferrets at night. Nothing but midnight prowls and very careful watching on the part of your keepers will obviate this most destructive form of depredation. دو Retrievers. Editors of sporting papers are constantly being asked by would-be "rabbit potters as to the best kind of retriever to take out rabbit shooting. The question is easily answered with "none."
A retriever is quite out of place when out after rabbits. Either your whole time is taken up in trying to keep him to heel, or he has seen so much of the game that it bores him, and he will not try when you want him.
If you must have a retriever, get a fast one, keep him on a string and have him in good condition. The only use for a retriever is to retrieve your bungles, and when a rabbit is racing for home, even on three legs only, he puts in very good time, and the dog has to be pretty smart to have a chance with him.
Concluding Hints. - Undoubtedly the best way-it cannot be too often repeatedto get up a good stock of rabbits is to kill off your stock, more especially as regards the bucks, before December, if possible, and especially then turn in plenty of fresh blood on the untainted ground to start you well for the next season. Feeding what you have left in the winter, and more especially during snow, must on no account be overlooked.
Never give your rabbits turnips; as already mentioned, it only scours them, and they die like flies. Put a little Indian corn into their burrows, and keep them well supplied with hay in little low racks, made on the same principle as those for sheep. Do not spread the hay about the ground; it gets damp, sodden, and trodden in. Those who wish to catch their rabbits wholesale will find a pitfall with a swing plank across it, which goes down at a rabbit's weight, very effectual.
A turnip or two at the bottom will prove irresistible; but do not forget to examine and deal with the captives every morning without fail. A general enclosure for rabbits can be easily and expeditiously filled from the outside where there are any walls, or turf banks, or even hedges, if properly trimmed down at the end nearest to the place into which you wish to entice the quarry. A plank projecting from the end of your wall, which should be pulled down for a foot or two away from the rabbit RACING] fence, well over the wire, into the warren or cover, will lead the rabbits in; and they will jump down off the plank to join their comrades inside. Jealousy forms a striking point in the rabbit's disposition; he always thinks every other rabbit is better off than himself. I have seen an iron bar projecting from the end of this plank, on the point of which a turnip can be occasionally impaled, to tempt the rabbits to the extremity and their subsequent downfall, and this is a very effective device.
R. J. LLOYD PRICE.
RACING, ORIGIN AND DEVELOP- MENT.-A duller task could scarcely be undertaken than that of endeavouring to trace the history of horse-racing from material furnished by the vague and contradictory accounts of the earliest writers on the subject. It may safely be assumed that racing dates from the period when two energetic men found themselves side by side on high-couraged horses. Whether the steeds or their riders were first fired by the spirit of emulation no one can say; but surely such a prehistoric spin was the nucleus of the Derby. This is not a theme that could profitably be enlarged upon by a writer whose object is to be practical.
Antiquity will be entirely disregarded; and, skipping over centuries, no effort will be made to summarise the history of Newmarket, or relate what potentates and princes have shaped and sustained the sport upon the historic Heath. There is so much to be said about racing in its modern developments that no space could well be devoted to archaic matter even if it seemed desirable; and one of many reasons why it does not so seem is that, in all essentials, the sport, as it is conducted in the twentieth century, differs completely in its character and surroundings from what it was before the Turf became so widely popular. When race meetings were first organised they were held annually near many cities and towns, the runners being provided by the local magnates and gentry.
The horses, usually hunters, were ridden at catch-weights by their owners or their grooms, and, to spin out the programme, in contests other than matches the races were run in heats. By degrees it became apparent that horses trained systematically and kept exclusively for racing had enormous advantages over others; and it appeared, furthermore, that men who were accustomed to riding races turned their experience to highly profitable account. By degrees the vast importance of weight began to be recognised, and some rough rules were formulated. Racing, indeed, showed signs of growing into shape as it is now conducted. Owners of proved good horses ceased to be content with local successes.
Prize-winners were sent into neighbouring counties, ridden and led by their jockeys with racing saddles strapped on their backs; and it was probably imagined that finality in the way of convenience had been reached when Lord George Bentinck hit on the brilliant notion of sending one of his horses, Elis, to Doncaster in a van. How animals are now despatched from one end of the country to another, often by special train on the morning of a race, so that those who dislike strange quarters should be away from their stables for as short a time as possible, need not be described; nor is it necessary to dwell on the immeasurable impetus which has been given to the sport by the introduction of railways, telegraphs, and the modern increase of newspapers.
A few words may be interpolated as to the serviceability of racing as a means to an end. The English thoroughbred horse is the most valuable animal in the world.
Flying Fox was sold for 37,600 guineas, and other horses have made 30,000 guineas; Sceptre changed hands as a yearling for a bid of 10,000 guineas, and, after her racing career, fetched 25,000 guineas; the brood mare Flair cost her owner 15,000 guineas.
The only method by which the excellence of a horse can be demonstrated is by racing him. Opponents of the sport, who do not fail to recognise the value of the blood, have expressed the belief that the exhibition of racehorses at agricultural shows and similar functions would meet every requirement; but this is not the case, for the reason that the creature's worth depends upon the possession of other than external qualities.
One does not want a horse merely to look at. Make and shape are not to be despised, but the great point is whether the horse has speed, stamina, constitution, soundness, and other attributes calculated to render its offspring worthy upholders of the family; and this can only be ascertained by submitting the animals to the ordeal of preparation and testing them on the course. An infusion of thoroughbred blood confers special and peculiar benefits on those so endowed, whether chargers, hunters, hacks, carriage horses. The fact has been constantly made obvious when horses of what may be described as the royal strain have drifted out of their own class and been put to try conclusions with their coarser bred cousins. The "blood" horse-thoroughbred or even half-bred-that comes to carry a soldier, or a sportsman in the huntingor 39° field, may not have the size and scope of some of his companions, and may not look so well able to bear weight; but as a very general rule his action and courage will unmistakably prove what his breeding signifies. Eclipse was the grandson of the Darley Arabian; he became the sire of three of the first five winners of the Derby, and thus is gained something like a direct connection between the earliest days of recognised racing and the present time. It is said of Eclipse that he galloped at the rate of a mile a minute; and the statement is valuable as showing how utterly untrustworthy and ridiculous the records of sport in the last century must be. No horse has ever galloped a mile in that time with half as much again added to it. This would lead, if one were tempted into it, to a discussion as to the relative speed and stamina of the thoroughbred horse now and a century ago -a profitless theme, as times vaguely spoken of as having been accomplished in bygone days were altogether untrustworthy.
They have constantly improved since they have been taken with a near approximation to accuracy. The conviction is that the horse of to-day is speedier than his predecessor was; there are those who think him less gifted with staying power, though as to this opinions again differ. The crop of thoroughbred horses is now annually so enormous that there must inevitably be a large proportion of weeds; the more so as, for many years past, at any rate, speed rather than stamina has been the object aimed at by breeders; but there is no sound reason to doubt that the best horses of to-day would gallop the four miles and a quarter (less 43 yards, if strict detail be demanded) of the Beacon Course at Newmarket at least as speedily as did the horses of any former period. It is not a little strange that, whereas the infusion of Arab blood from the three sires, the Godolphin Arabian, the Darley Arabian, and the Byerly Turk, has made the English racehorse of to-day what he is, the Arab of today should be in all respects such a vastly inferior animal. The fact is unquestionable. No weight and what weight means will be presently considered-will bring together" the best Arab and the poorest of English horses. This was demonstrated some years ago at Newmarket in a race between Asil and Iambic, between the best Arab of his day and about the worst thoroughbred; for, with a huge advantage in weight for Asil, and over a course which was supposed to suit him and to be four times more than Iambic could compass, the latter won in a trot. The value of the 66 [RACING English thoroughbred is indeed universally recognised, and the whole world supplies itself from England. Europe, America (North and South), India, the Colonies, have all derived their racing stock from this country, and they can only sustain it by continuing to draw from the same supply. ex- BREEDING.That there is no royal road to the production of good horses is shown by the fact that many owners to whom money has been of no importance, who have added long experience and keen observation to practically unlimited penditure, have vainly tried all their lives to produce the object of every racing man's ambition-a Derby winner. Much is written about scientific breeding, but the most that can be really maintained in regard to it is that by the judicious union of certain strains of blood a fair proportion of valuable horses is likely to be secured. When a horse wins a number of the principal stakes, strong evidence seems to be furnished that he is bred on highly judicious principles; but all the own brothers and sisters of such a horse-not only one or two, but all of them-not seldom prove absolutely worthless for racing purposes, and this is an argument against scientific breeding which takes a vast deal of explaining away. The different supporters of the theory of scientific breeding have different ideas on the subject; there are no set rules. The majority of them, however, would doubtless have agreed cordially as to the absolutely and unimpeachably scientific breeding of several horses who finished far behind St. Gatien in the Derby and behind Robert the Devil in the St. Leger; and it is certain that neither of these two animals would ever have been picked out as an example of the science. One naturally chooses a sire of approved merit, and looks for size and quality in the mare; but if she is goodlooking and comes of a distinguished family, it is not essential that she should have won races. A great many of the mares that have been most successful when in training have failed to produce winners Possibly in some cases their vital energy has been more or less exhausted during their career on the