TE AWAMUTU.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 2538, 16 October 1888, Page 2

TE AWAMUTU.

Breeding Horses ror the Indian Market. —Some of our settlers here realising that breeding horses of a stamp suitable for cxvalry purposes would probably reaul- profitably, have turned their attention to this matter, and intend making use of the grand horse Ingomar. One farmer well-known as a good judge of horses, mated a fine upstanding active light harness mare with this horse two years ago, and last year she dropped a very fine colt which gives promis6 of furnishing into a valuable horse. The mare baa more than a strain of good blood in her, about a fourth, but she is not too heavy for fast work, aud can jump like a cat, taking a feuce in good style. Her owner is so well pleased with the appearance of the stock from her ind Ingomar that he has purohased another mare of a somewhat similar stamp for the same purpose. Other farmers are also turning their attention to feeding the' same stamp of stock. For yeare past owners of weedy and small-boned marca have been in the habit of putting them to thoroughbred sires, vainly expecting to breed something good out of.them, the result being that the country is flooded with miserable weeds, not fit to do a journey under anything over eight or nine stone, a really good upstanding weight carrier being the exception, ." An ounce of blood is better than a pound of | bono " is an old saying and a true one in many instances, but if a twelve or thirteen stone man wants to do a long day's vide, be will find the addition of the bone to the blood an absolute necessity. Given two horses of the same substance, one well-bred and the other a " scrubber," the well-bred one will certainly wear the other out, but too many have made the mistake of supposing that blood would take the place of bone. Take old Sportsman as a sample of a horse combining the two qualities. He is able to carry sixteen stone over a four rail fence, and do a long day's_ journey without distress to himself or rider. In the hunting field a few men turn out well mounted, but the general public are always mounted on a lot of miserable weeds. The demand for the Indian market has given an impetus to breeding good horses, horses of the stamp that were to be seen at the volunteer cavalry drills twelve or fifteen years ago, when almost without exception the tneu were well mounted. Short distance races and light weights are, in a great measure, responsible for the deterioration in horseflesh. Racing men in the colony would be surprised at a fourteen stone handicap over a four-mile steeplechase course. Yet such weights ure imposed in Ireland. The writer read in the " Field" a report of a steeplechase in the South of Ireland, which was won by a horse carrying that weight. The Irish hunters are famous all over the world, a great many of them being bred by farmers who put their farm mares to thoroughbred sires, but so much attention has been given to bone and substance of late years that it is no uncommon thing to see thoroughbreds carrying heavy riders to : hounds. It costs no more to feed a good horse than a bad one, and there is five times the money in the good one. is to be hoped the venture of those who intend improving the breed will meet with the success it deserves. The Late Frost —The frost on Friday night did a good deal of damage to potatoes and other tender plants. In some places potatoes over a foot high were not touched whilo those just np, aud which- were growing alongside, were cut down. In other cases the result was exactly the reverse. Brown Beetles.—The night beetles are beginning to make theif appearance again. Some people place sheets or paper under the trees to catch them when shaken off, hut this is unnecessary trouble, as it makes 110 perccptable difference in their numbers. The trouble of spreading the sheets, otc., under the trees can be avoided. If the trees, are shaken just- after dark, when t!:o beetles have finally settled,' they will drop off and rise no more tha# flight, .