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ENGLANDS HORSE SUPPLY IMPAIRED. Alarm Bccauso Purchases bv Foreigners Have Decreased Army Resources Seriously. London. Eng.. May 2. — The newspapers and experts iu breeding profess to see ■ gradual decline iu Iwiih nualitv and number of the British thoroughbred The Mail declares that the census of hoisc-sel "oing by the government iu Devopsliiie is nearly toiiipletc anil it is found that the police bad neailv :ill the facts already accumulated The result of the census is likelv to be alarming. It is not so much that the niiinlicr of horses has 1 ii.-ii off -though there "is probably a decrease of •ii leas! l."ii H» foals in England -as that the right type l« wanting. The other tlav. at special retpiest. •I government buyer of remounts, accompanied by •i professor went down to Cornwall to purchase. hundred horses were specially collected and paraded but of the M* only six were selected .is .omul and of the right tyjie. If this happens .it I Iskeard the center of the Broodmare Society. Mtnre Mr. Williams is organizing his scheme tor ,.„, miikiii — in the literal sensi — national horse-. fii.- results will be twice as bad elsewhere. Among those who know- the facts the alarm at the nationil tleticieiicv is great, , The Pall Mall Gaaette says that ihe adequate supply of horses for the army, it would scarcely be denied, is as essential to its otliciencv a- mt ■ and guns. Yet in this vital particular the goveii-iiient. as in so maiiv other questions relative to the defence of the eoiintrv. have utterly failed I-. realise their responsibilities. sir Gilbert Parker is raising the point m one of Us Important asiiects next week in the house or , -..minims He has given notiiv to cull the attention ,,f the secretary of state for war to the fact lli.it Certnaa agents are extensively buying three vein "! I botses suitable for army purposes in l-nglautl. Ii-I:: nd and Wales. , , . . _ ,. •There is no use disguising „ the fact. sail U expert on Knglish borae breeding, that Hie eoiintn Is rapidly being denuded of its best horses, and the position is lieeoiuiiig acute. "It is a regulation of the war office that borises ! i i I I I I i J i | , shall not lie bought under four years old. This is g the foreigners t hance. Not only the iermniis. but o practically every continental country, has agent ; w lient on securing the very pick of the available t three year olds. They piiichnse especially young e mares, which, of course. h not return to this coun- t try. The.t are. therefore, reducing both in nualitv and number the supply of four year olds obtainable ■ bv the home authorities. "The Germaa and French governments realize the I 1 value of a plentiful supply. They have their own f government breeding establishments ami encourage n horse breeding by subsidy. I believe lrance ttays c something like M0.4M francs a year in this re speet. Th n they take great care that only good Ii stallions are employed. 1 "The principal causes of the alarming scarcity — I a for I am convinced if war broke out tomorrow we I have no a sufficient supply for the army — are the v nnprcccileiiiod buying of young horses hy foreign v agents, the fail that fanners are more and more i in giving up tie breeding of horses, the Increase in mechaaieal traction and the heavy demand for horses il during ihe late South African war.- i
