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forty pounds on the latter, the medium of which, forty-fivepounds, may probably be assumed, with sufficient accuracy, asthe price of horses capable of performing the labour alreadymentioned. The interest of the purchase money of a pair ofhorses is thus four pounds ten shillings yearly.

The annual decline in value is a matter of considerable un-certainty. If horses are worked for twelve or fifteen years,their value at the end of that period is little more than theprice of their skin. But they are very seldom able to under-go the fatigue of so much labour as has been assigned them forsuch a length of time, seldom longer perhaps than from six toeight years, when they are ten or twelve years of age. After thatthey may be either sold at a greatly reduced price, or reser-ved as supernumeraries for giving assistance to the regularteams at particular seasons, supplying the place of such asmay be laid idle for a few days by indisposition and accidents,and performing occasional work, such as carting clover andturnips, clearing the clover field of stones, filling drains, &c.If the whole period of a horse’s labour be fifteen years, thatof the first six may perhaps be equal in value to that of theremaining nine; a horse of ten years old, after working sixyears, may therefore be considered of halfhis original value,or L. 22, 10s., the same sum being lost upon his price everysix years, or L. 3, 15s., and for a pair of horses L. 7, 10s.,}icr annum.

Besides these annual charges against horses, there is athird one for insurance against accidents and diseases. Itlias been stated, that one horse in twenty-seven dies everyyear * ; but this loss, it would appear, is calculated uponhorses kept to a great age, and worked for fifteen years, sothat the mortality must be ascribed in part to old age, andnot altogether to diseases and accidents. This, however, isa much lower estimate than the experience of many farmers

West-Lothian Report, p. 297,