Preface: When we first undertook to report the state of the Agriculture of the the County of Hants, we were not altogether aware of the time and attention it would require, to make a complete and particular statement of the whole county; and we find from experience, the more we investigated the subject, the wider the field expanded to our view.

From the text: In the neighbourhood of Lymington, the land is very irregular, the hills in general poor; and the meadow rich; their chief manure is marle and chalk, but sea weed might be introduced to great advantage, by mixing it with farmyard dung, or mould.

Lymington was formerly famous for a number of salterns, which are now reduced to two or three, being a very precarious trade, on account of the unsettled state of this climate.

Horses, Cattle, Sheep and Pigs.

From the text: THE NEW FOREST PONY - ....The type has been subjected to change by the introduction of Thoroughbred and Arab blood. The large proportion of greys, many of them flea-bitten, among a great variety of colours, is traced to the latter origin. There are not many duns, and but few piebalds left.

The New Forest Pony is below the level of the Dartmoor and Exmoor in the quality of its head and shoulders. Its hocks and feet are, however, both good. In height, the different types, in different sections of the Forest, range from about 12-2 to 13-2 hands, although, when one is removed at weaning, and well attended to during the first two winters, it may rise to 14-I and make an excellent trapper.

This is the first and second editions combined. So has been extended from the original 55 pages to the complete work here of 266 pages.

From the author: In this small book I am making but brief references to a few points of interest to the general public touching the acquisition of land.

From the text: A purchaser of land has an object in his purchase. If he buys for income, he must not be too particular to insist on beauty; if he buys for occupation he must make the basis of value a correspondence between the advantages the property possesses, and his requirements. If he buys for speculation he must consider the prospective results by development whether it be in minerals, or ground rents, or anything else; but if he buys for luxury he must regard it then from an aesthetic standpoint.

Introduction: How to Choose a Horse, or, Selection Before Purchase, has been written as a guide to those who are compelled to purchase a Horse in the absence of skilled assistance, and for such also who are desirous of acquiring a rudimentary knowledge previous to the employment of a qualified Veterinary Surgeon.

From the text: When choosing a horse in a market, particular care is necessary, because many of the vendors have patched-up animals to dispose of and if they are successful in disposing of such, there is little prospect of seeing the individual again.

Sir Walter Gilbey (1831 to 1914)

Introduction: The early history of the horse in the British Islands is obscure. The animal is not indigenous to the country, and it is supposed that the original stock was brought to England many centuries before the Christian era by the Phoenician navigators who visited the shores of Cornwall to procure supplies of tin.

From the text: The demand for New Forest ponies increased, and the commoners took advantage of the higher prices obtainable to sell the best of their young stock, thus the breed steadily degenerated, until the late Prince Consort sent a grey Arab stallion to stand at New Park.