Types and breeds of farm animals

Front matter

Country Life Education Series

TYPES AND BREEDS

OF

Foreword

"Types and Breeds of Farm Animals " was first published in 1906. The reception accorded the first edition far surpassed the most sanguine expectations of the author, and his first impulse is to express a deep appreciation for the many generous expressions regarding it that have come to him from many sources. In this revised edition is a more detailed discussion relative to the great breeds, and considerable space is devoted to families of importance and to noted individuals. A large amount of new data has been collected relating to various phases of production, although it is a hopeless task to bring such records down to date. Milk, butter-fat, speed, and sale-ring records have been shattered over and over again during the last few years, so that what is new to-day will to-morrow be out of date. The number of chapters remains the same, but several obsolete breeds have been omitted in this revision and other new and more important ones have been substituted. Maps and many illustrations have been added.

The author desires to emphasize the importance of breed study. The value of all our farm animals is dependent upon the breeds being maintained not only in their purity but in a high degree of excellence. A great number of men without plan or purpose are producing inferior horses, cattle, sheep, and swine, mixing breeds and blood-lines, totally ignoring all thought of constructive breeding. Were it not for the relatively few men breeding along definite lines and upholding high standards within the breeds, our herds and flocks would sink to much lower levels. To overcome the damages done by nondescript breeding, it is absolutely essential that men shall familiarize themselves with the ancestry, characteristics, capacities, and adaptations of the breeds, that they may intelligently undertake breeding operations.

vi FOREWORD

Inasmuch as this volume will be largely used by students and young stockmen, who are essentially beginners in the study and breeding of farm animals, the author wishes to emphasize the importance of the breeder being a person of integrity, with a character above reproach. It is most unfortunate that the hand of suspicion has pointed at some breeders as engaged in practices that reflect upon their reliability. Errors of record due to carelessness may happen, and be excused, but premeditated crookedness in breeding, testing, or selling pure-bred live stock cannot be justified and should be severely punished. Our breeds must be established and maintained with honesty of purpose a first requirement. Whoever attempts to establish a herd under any other conditions is sure to degrade rather than elevate the breeder's art, to injure the innocent, to carry a tainted name, and to have a disastrous career. Public sentiment should place a premium on a good name as worth more than great riches and attach the stain of disgrace and a just punishment on the man guilty of intentional deceit.

One of the most hopeful signs on the horizon of American live-stock husbandry is the present interest in community and cooperative breeding and the establishment of thousands of boys' and girls' live-stock clubs. For this reason the future prospects of improved live-stock husbandry are most encouraging. Both types and breeds are receiving greatly increased attention, and many more are seriously interested in constructive breeding than ever before. It is the profound desire of the author that this work shall contribute to this end.

CHARLES S. PLUMB Ohio Statk Univkksitv,

COLUMHUS, Ohiu

Contents

CHAPTER PAGE

I. The Prehistoric Horse i

II. The Arab Horse 7

Part I. The Horse, Ass, And Mule Chapter I The Prehistoric Horse

The world-wide distribution of the horse in prehistoric times has been well established. Fossil remains have been discovered in Europe, Asia, Africa, and North and South America. Nothing of the kind, however, has been found in Australia or the Oceanic Islands. These remains have been found in earth and sand deposits in various parts of Europe, antedating the glacial period. In 1 90 1 important discoveries were made of drawings of horses in a cave at La Mouthe, France, supposed to have been made prior to the Stone Age. These drawings were partly cut in rock and partly made in ocher and represented animals associated with hunting. These well-defined drawings show a horse with no forelock and a head with Roman-nose character, also one with a head similar to that of the Celtic pony. From the evidence left in these caves it is thought that a larger type of horse lived toward the south, while farther north a smaller form existed. The ass is also known to have been in existence in Europe at this period.

The discovery of the prehistoric horse in America was first made by Mitchell in 1826 near the Navesink Highlands in New Jersey, and caused great discussion. About 1850 Dr. Leidy made similar discoveries in Nebraska, and late in the nineteenth century the wide distribution of this early horse in North and South America was well understood. These remains have been found all over the Southern states, in the Northeastern and Middle states, in California and Oregon, and in greatest abundance in the so-called l^ad Lands of Nebraska, Wyoming, and South Dakota. The fossil remains of the horse are generally fragmentary and date as remotely as the Lower Eocene period, A number of complete skeletons, however, have been discovered, notably in 1899 in Texas, when several of the size of a trotting horse were found. The evolution of the horse from prehistoric to present times covers geological ages of time and represents a passing of perhaps

Vie. 1. Skeleton of prehistoric horse from the Lower I'lcislocene of Texas,

in the American Museum of Natural History. Reproduced by courtesy

of the American Museum

three million years. Extensive researches relative to the prehistoric horse, conducted by the scientific staff of the American Museum of Natural History, directed by Drs. (3sborn and Matthews, have resulted in securing a wonderful collection of remains and a large amount of valuable new data. As a result of these discoveries, there has been set up in this museum a complete collection of skeletons showing the various stages of development from the Lower Eocene to the present day horse. Many of these skeletons, originally more or less incomplete, have been restored, so that the exhibit appears perfect. Based on the

THE PREHISTORIC HORSE above-referred-to discoveries, the following descriptive information is presented relative to the evolution of the prehistoric horse through several geological periods :

EoJiippiis, formerly known as Hyracotherium, existed in the Lower Eocene period. The teeth, short-crowned, were covered with little knobs of enamel. The fore foot had four complete toes and a splint of a fifth, while the hind foot had three toes and a

Head

Fore Foot

HindFoot

Teeth

OneToe

Splints of

2d and 4th

digits

OneToe Splints of 2d and 4th digits

Protohippus

Mesohippus

Protorohippus

Hyracotherium (Eohippus)

ThreeToes Side toes !■[ not touching the ground b

ThreeToes

Side toes

not toiLching

the ground

Long- Crowned, Cementcovered a Three Toes II Side toes m touching the

ground; Splint ofSthdigit

Three Toes

Side toes

touching the

ground

Four Toes

Short- Crowned, without Cement

Four Toes Splint of Jst digit

Three Toes Splint of 5th digit

Fig. 2. Comparative drawings of skulls, feet, and teeth of prehistoric horse,

showing evolutionary development. Reproduced by permission from Guide

Leaflet N'o. 9, American Museum of Natural Histor

splint. The skull suggests a civet rather than a horse. Remains have been found in a number of parts of the world, but more especially in the Bad Lands of the Western states. These are about the size of a cat or fox terrier, and have been termed " dawn horses." Eleven stages of development have been assumed to have taken place from and including this period to the present time.

ProtoroJiippns and Oi-ohippiis are from the Middle Eocene period. Here the splints in the hind feet have disappeared, and the crests on the molars are more apparent. These horses were about the size of a small dog or fox. The complete skeleton of a Protorohippus was found in 1880 in Wyoming and is now in the American Museum collection.

EpiJiippus is from the Upper Eocene period. Only incomplete specimens have been found. There are four toes in front and three behind, but the central toe in each case is larger, stronger, and more important than the side toes. The teeth have gone through changes, with more crescents and crests.

McsoJiippus is from the Oligocene period. There are three toes on each foot and a splint representing the fourth toe of the fore foot. The middle toe is now much larger than it was in the preceding stage, the side toes bearing but little weight of the body. There is an increased development of the molars. In the Middle Oligocene is found one species about the size of a coyote, or eighteen inches high, while in the Upper Oligocene is another species as large as a sheep. Several complete skeletons have been found.

ProtoJiippjis is from the Miocene period. A number of different species existed in the Lower, Middle, and Upper Miocene periods. The side toes are slender and no longer reach the ground. In some species they have completely disappeared. The teeth are more Hke those of the modern horse — the crowns being much lengthened, and the crests and ridges higher and more complicated, with cement between the ridges. Horses of this period ranged in size from a mastiff dog to a Shetland pony.

PlioJiippus is from the Pliocene period. Comparatively little is known of this form, excepting that it was either one-toed or very nearly so.

Eqnus is from the Pleistocene period and Recent. The side toes are gone, but are represented by splints on fore and hind foot. On the fore foot no trace of the first and fifth toes, found on the Protohippus, remains. The crowns of the teeth are much longer, and the teeth have changed otherwise. The skull has lengthened, and the horse is much larger.

Tracing the evolution of the horse, we find that this animal gradually increases in height, the number of toes reduces to one on each foot, while the teeth increase in length and crown development. With increase in height comes a gain in the proportionate length of the limbs, more especially in the lower part,

THE PREHISTORIC HORSE thereby increasing the length of stride and securing greater speed. The surfaces of the joints, at first more or less open and of the ball-and-socket type, changed to a grooved or pulley-like form, this limiting the direction of movement forward and backward, — a development better fitted for locomotion over level than rough ground. The horse being a grazing animal, the increase in height of body and length of leg necessitated elongation of neck and head. The natural habitat of the earlier horse was the

Fig. 3. Prejvalsky p^.,.^.:. ..i New York Zoological Park. r!.^.._.^.„ph by courtesy of Edwin R. Sanborn

forest, w^here it undoubtedly subsisted on the more tender parts of plants and branches. In the course of time, however, along with the increase in size came the development of teeth with cutting and grinding surfaces better suited to the product of grassy plains than the forest ; hence the horse eventually found its natural home on the open plain or meadow where grazing was afforded.

The color of the prehistoric horse is not known, but it is supposed to have been more or less striped, like the zebra, though not brilliant in hue. The groundwork of this color was presumably dun, or khaki.

6 THE HORSE, ASS, AND Mll.E

Man and the prehistoric horse were associated as early as the Paleolithic, or Stone Implement ^\ge. It is assumed that man first hunted horses for food, then drove them, and finally used them for riding and as beasts of burden. The bones of human beings have been found in connection with prehistoric-horse remains in South America, but not in North America. In Europe man and the prehistoric horse were without doubt associated.

The connecting link between the prehistoric and modern horse is assumed to be the present form of the zebra, the wild ass of Asia and Africa, and Prejvalsky's horse. The prehistoric horse became extinct in America and Europe during the Quaternary period, or Age of Man, while those of Asia and Africa survived. It has been assumed by various authorities that Prejvalsky's horse, discovered in 1881 by Poliakoff on the desert of Zungaria in western Mongolia in Asia, is the connecting link between the recent and prehistoric horse. This type of wild pony, standing forty inches high, bears a striking resemblance to the European cave drawings of the horse. The rough, small, coarse-headed ponies native to Norway, Ireland, and other parts of northern Europe show much resemblance to the wild ponies of Mongolia and China. Professor J. Cossar Ewart of Scotland, who has given much study to the origin of our domestic breeds, states ^ that " though the wild horse discovered some years ago by Prejvalsky in Mongolia has neither coarse limbs nor broad hoofs, it is regarded by many as the modern representative of the fossil horse from which domestic breeds are said to have descended. This is the view adopted by Professor Diirst in his report on the 'Animal Remains from the Excavations at Anau.'" In 1904 Plwart recognized as connecting links three distinct types of horses — Prejvalsky's, Celtic, and Norwegian, which he later respectively designated as " steppe," " plateau," and "' forest" types. Diirst of Germany, who arrived at the same conclusion, though independently, represented in graphic form the origin of the modern i^reeds. However, he assumed that both wild and tame modern horses « are all descended from a fossil species now represented by Equus Prejvalsky.

1 "The Principles of Breeding and the Origin of Domesticated Breeds of Animals," 27th Report Bureau Animal Industry for the year 1910, pp. 125-239.

Chapter II The Arab Horse

The native home of the Arab horse is Arabia. This is an extensive country lying just east of the Red Sea, extending some fifteen hundred miles northwest to southeast, and varying in width from about one thousand miles in its southern portion to five hundred at its northern end. Wide expanses of deserts are found in this country that are dry and unattractive from an agricultural point of view. The Arab horse, more or less pure, is found in great numbers in Turkey, Persia, and parts of northern Africa, notably the Sahara region. The best Arabian horses are found in the desert region, among the migratory Bedouin tribes, of which there are several groups. The most powerful of these are the Shammar race of Mesopotamia in the north and to the east of the Euphrates, and the Anezah in the south. The latter have the best horses, a fact generally recognized by the Bedouins.

The origin of the pure Arabian has been the subject of wide discussion. Undoubtedly much has been written based on nothing more substantial than romance and tradition. Some writers — notably Professor William Ridgeway of Cambridge, England — have assumed that the Arab horse originated in Africa ; others seriously question the accuracy of this claim. The Arabians themselves offer only traditional evidence. These people are descendants of Ishmael, who, according to tradition, inherited a valuable horse of the Kuhl race. The Anezah tribe descends in a direct line from Ishmael, through Sheik Salaman, who lived about 1635 B.C. and who owned five famous mares. These are known as the Al Khamseh mares, and from this ancestry, it is claimed, has come the purest and best Arab horse blood. This race was in existence many centuries before the time of Mohammed. Many people have visited Arabia to study the Arabian horse and to import it to other countries, and from these people there has been some diversity of opinion. Major Upton and Lady Anne Blunt, however, have no doubt given more careful consideration to this subject than any other persons. They made special journeys to Arabia, where careful studies were made of the horse of the people, concerning which we learn much in their writings. ^ Major Upton lived among the Arabs for months and spoke their language. The late Homer Davenport, an American artist who was for many years interested in this breed of horses, after a trip to Arabia also

published more or less regarding the origin of this horse and its various families and subfamilies.^ Five great families of Arabian horses of to-day trace their ancestry to the five mares above referred to. These families are as follows: (i)KeheiletAjuz, (2) Seglawi, (3) Abeyah, (4) Hamdani, and (5) Hadban. There is some difference of opinion as to the families descending from these mares, but present-day authorities as a rule regard the above as descended from the Khamseh mares. Numerous subfamilies or strains are credited to these five great families. From the first-named family, the Keheilet Ajuz, comes the choicest Arab blood. As applied to horses, Kehcilan means "male" and Keheilet "female," and indicates purity of blood traceable without a break to the five mares of Salaman. The word aj7is means "old woman." The following story of the origin of this family is given by the Arabian people and has been widely

Fig. 4. .Shahwan, an Arab stallion bred by Ali Pacha Sherif of Egypt. Used in stud by W. S. Blunt, Esq., England. Imported in 1895 ^y J. A. P. Ramsdell, Newburg, New York. Photograph by courtesy of Mr. Ramsdell

' Roger D. Upton, Gleanings from the Desert of Arabia (London, i88i); Lady Anne Hlunt, The Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates, 2 vols. (London, 1879) '■> Lady Anne Blunt, A Pilgrimage to Nejd, 2 vols. (London, 1881).

'^ Homer Davenport, My Quest of the Arab Morse. New York, 1909.

THE ARAB HORSE 9

quoted. An Arab chief was endeavoring to escape from an enemy while mounted on his favorite mare. The journey was a long and hard one, and while resting at noon the mare gave birth to a filly foal. The owner of the mare being hard pressed mounted and rode away, leaving the newborn colt, and after much difficulty reached his own people. To the utter surprise of all, the colt followed and reached the camp shortly after the arrival of her dam. She was given into the care of one of the old women of the tribe, whence her name Keheilet Ajuz (" the mare of the old woman "). This colt lived to become the most famous mare ever seen on the desert, and from her are descended the choicest of pure Arabian horses. The claim is made that nineteen families are descended from her, five through mares and fourteen through stallions. Some even believe that eight other families also should be credited to her.

The Seglawi is descended from four great mares owned by a man of that name. Davenport, who classes this as one of the great Arabian families, states that Seglawi at his death gave his favorite mare to his brother Jedran, from which the name "Seglawi Jedran " is given this, the most popular branch of the Keheilet Ajuz family. Horses of this ancestry are said to be mostly bays in color, are possessed of the greatest speed of any Arab family, and in conformation closely resemble the Thoroughbred. Davenport states ^ that the Darley Arabian, " perhaps the only Anezeh horse in our studbooks, was a Keheilan of the subfamily called Ras-el-Fadawi."

The characteristics of the Arab horse. The Jicad represents very superior character and intelligence, the forehead being broad and prominent, and the head tapering toward the nose more than with other breeds. The nostrils are prominent, the eyes fairly so, the ears delicate and pointing inward, and the general head expression lean and representing high spirit. The neck is of medium length and sustains the head most gracefully. Captain Hayes states that the sJionlders of the Arab slope well, though from the saddle point of view they are often too thick, while the withers incline to be rather low and broad. The body is fairly short and is usually deeply ribbed, the back is well sustained, and the loins are broad and muscular. The cronp tends to be

1 My Quest of the Arab Horse (1909), p. 259.

lO THE HORSE, ASS, Ax\l) MULE

high, sometimes making specimens of the breed appear higher here than at the withers. The tail sets high and is carried with style. The quarters are long and deep, but the gaskins and hocks hardly equal those of the Thoroughbred. The legs and feet are very superior. For his size the strength of the Arabian horse is remarkable, this being due in part to large development of muscle of loin and arm, whereby he becomes a superior burden carrier. The Arab has a great constitution and extraordinary staying power. He is not noted so much for speed as for endurance, as he is not nearly the equal of the Thoroughbred or American trotter for rapid speed. Yet the Arab will perform long journeys across country with comparative ease, such as require great staying power. In Jieiglit the Arab ranges from 14 to 14] hands, so that he stands at the boundary line between pony and horse. Many of the most famous Arabs brought to England were ponies. Esa ben Curtas, a large importer of Arabs to Bombay, is credited with the statement that the best Arabs did not, as a rule, exceed 14 hands 1% inches to 14^- hands high. In color there is some variation, for there are bays, whites, grays, chestnuts, and blacks. No pure-bred Arabs are spotted or roan of color. Rowe gives the prevalence of the various colors as follows ^ : bay, 50 to 60 per cent ; chestnut, 25 per cent; and gray or w'hite, 15 to 25 per cent. A black Arabian is exceedingly rare.

The introduction of the Arab horse to America dates back many years. No doubt numerous horses called Arabian were not of that breed, but were of oriental ancestry. About 1765 an Arab stallion named Ranger was imported to New London, Connecticut. A half-bred, gray son of this horse was used by General \\' ashington during the Revolutionary War. Ranger was later taken to V^irginia, where he became known as the Lindsay Arabian. In 1838 a large consignment of both stallions and mares was brought to the United States by Commodore J. D. Elliott of the United States Navy. The first volume of Bruce's "American Studbook " (Thoroughbred) contains a list of 42 Arab stallions imported into the United States between 1760 and i860, besides 12 Arab mares, 4 Barb stallions, and 2 Barb marcs. About 1855 A. Keene

THE ARAB HORSE

II

Richards of Kentucky made a trip to Arabia with Troyon, the animal painter. They visited among the Anezah, and Richards brought back to America 3 stalHons and 2 mares. The stalhons were much used in service, and their blood occupies a place of prominence in the Gold Dust family of trotters. In 1893 a company of men brought several stallions and mares from near Damascus and exhibited at the World's Columbian Exposition at Chicago. Most of these horses later were lost in a fire, but one

Fig. 5. Ilamrah 28, a bay Arab stallion, sire a Ilamdani, dam a Seglawi Jedran.

Owned by Hingham Stock Farm, Hingham, Massachusetts. Photograph by

Pictorial News Company of the finest, a gray mare known as Nedjma, was saved. In 1906 Homer Davenport imported 10 mares and 17 stallions to his farm in New Jersey. J. A. P. Ramsdell of New York, Spencer Borden of Massachusetts, and Randolph Huntington of New York each owned imported Arabs of merit.

The influence of the Arab horse upon the improvement of the present-day breeds is well recognized among students. As early as the reign of King James I of England (1603- 162 5) Arab horses were introduced into that country and crossed with light horses. Between 1 700 and 1 800 many oriental horses found their way to England, and these had a most important influence in improving the Thoroughbred. The so-called " Royal Mares," imported by Charles II (1660- 1685), became foundation stock in the best of British light-horse blood, their descendants attaining great distinction. From the Darley Arabian imported in 1706 is descended the best of Hackney blood to-day. According to Joseph Osborne,^ since the time of James I 164 oriental sires of known record have been taken to England and used in service. This list includes 90 Arabs, 36 Barbs, 32 Turks, 4 Persians, and 2 horses of unknown ancestry. Arab horses have also been used for centuries in improving the horses of continental Europe. Much of the quality produced in the early Percheron, it is claimed, came from the Arab, while the French have set a high value on this horse in producing half-breeds and improving coach horses. In 1522 the Turks invaded Hungary five hundred thousand strong, which number, so history informs us, included three hundred thousand horsemen. With the defeat of the Mohammedans they were driven from the country, but they left large numbers of Arabian horses behind. Until the World War Arab horse blood had been in use in the stables of Hungary, and a Bedouin of the desert, thoroughly familiar with the breed, was attached to the Hungarian army as master of horse, his duty being to select the best Arabian horses for the royal studs. These studs were established in 1785. In addition to the royal studs, there were some 1 50 private studs, in which were to be found 5000 Arab mares of purest blood. Russia and Germany have also used the Arabian in the stud. It is said that in 1895 no less than 200 Arab stallions belonging to the French government were at the free service of owners of mares in Algiers, Africa, this being a French colony.

In recent years Major Upton maintained a pure Arab stud in England, as did Henry Chaplin, once Minister of Agriculture. Sir Wilfred Blunt and his wife. Lady Anne Blunt, in 1877 became interested in the Arab and brought to England from Arabia some choice pure-bred stallions and mares. They owned a stud in Egypt as well as in England, and about 1905 their Crabbet stud in England contained about 125 head. Reverend F. F. Vidal,

1 The Horse Breeders' Handbook, London. (No date.)

THE ARAB HORSE 13

Sir Walter Gilbey, Miss Ethelred Dillon, and others have promoted -the Arab horse in England and maintained studs.

Notable Arab horses of recent years were the stallions Kismet, Blitz, El Emir, Maidan, Kouch, Kars, Shahwan, Cunningham, Garaveen, and Himyarite. Kismet and Blitz had remarkable records in India as race horses. During 1883 and 1884 Kismet never lost a race or heat and won about $150,000 in money. Kismet was brought to England, where he not only raced but was used in the stud. In 1891 he was leased to Mr. Huntington of Oyster Bay, New York, and shipped to this country, but died two hours after landing. Maidan was foaled in 1869 at Nejd and was taken to India, where he attained fame as a race horse. After a remarkable career of many years as a cavalry and racing horse in India, he was taken to France and from there to England, where he lived to be twenty-three years old. Shahwan was a small white stallion imported from Cairo by the Blunts and sold to J. A. P. Ramsdell. He was very beautiful, but died before his value in the stud could be determined. Notable Arab mares were Hagar, Haidee, Naomi, Rodania, Kesia, and Nazli. Hagar was a Keheilet Ajuz and was purchased at Aleppo when five years of age and taken to England by the Blunts. She produced thirteen foals and died in 1898, at twenty-five years of age, one of the greatest Arab mares ever imported to England. Haidee was imported by the Uptons and left one foal, Naomi, after which she died. Naomi became the property of Mr. Vidal, who, in 1888, sold her to Randolph Huntington. She had twelve foals, four in England and eight in America, and died at twenty-two years of age, famous as a remarkable dam. Nazli was a daughter of Naomi, sired by Maidan. She produced a number of high-class sons and daughters.

The value of the Arab in crossbreeding has been very notable. Wherever used he has transmitted constitution, quality, intelligence, and style in a marked degree. His value to horse stock in the past has undoubtedly been important, especially in the earlier stages of breed development. Not only this, but European governments, even of to-day, recognize the value of an Arabian cross to instill the qualities above referred to into depleted stock. As an example of this crossing, in 1899 it is stated that the

French government mated sixty Thoroughbred mares with pure Arabian staUions at the national stud at Pompadour. The object was to obtain Anglo-Arab stallions for service in the government studs. These crossbred stallions are usually placed in low, soft districts, where the horses are coarse and of inferior bone. The progeny from such stallions have more refinement and quality than those obtained by other matings. At the present time one important use for Arab sires is breeding to Welsh, New Forest, Exmoor, or similar ponies to produce crossbreds for polo playing. In 191 3 fifteen Arabian stallions were shipped to West Virginia to be used on farm mares in the blue-grass counties of that state. ^ The present-day recognition of the Arab horse in America is very slight. The breed is not popular among horsemen, and although for many years efforts have been made to interest the people in Arabs, but very few are to be found on the American continent. The argument advanced is that our own American saddle horses are far superior to the Arab for riding in the saddle, while for speed in harness nothing compares with our trotter or pacer. In the opinion of most horsemen there is no special place or use for the Arab in America. The advocates of the Arab regard him as a premier saddle horse or pony and assign him large credit in the development of the breeds of light horses. " The Arab horse is par excellence the general utility animal," writes H. K. Bush-Brown,^ "and as such has no equal because of his intelligence, docility, fleetness, and endurance, and his strong back makes him the best weight carrier in the world." Professor H. F. Osborn states that'^ "the unpopularity of the Arab in some quarters is due to mistakes which have been made in breeding and environment or nurture. It is impossible to rear the Arab and preserve it true to type without regard to the hardy conditions in feeding methods and environment of the semi-desert regions of Arabia where these animals were originally bred." In his opinion the chief value of the Arab to-day will be in giving a finish to cavalry stock and the saddle type in general, " but the mixture can only be made in the most scientific manner."