PROGRESS OF PUBLICATION.
As the first peeping of the primrose foretels the approaching though far-off spring, so aft Almanack and an Annual for 1839 speak of the declining year.
I. The Oracle of Rural Life ; an Almanack for Country Gentlemen, for the Year 1889. '2. New Excitement, for 1829.
1. The Oracle is chiefly addressed to • the follower of field !ports, or to those who for business or pleasure occupy themselves In agriculture and horticulture. Besides.an .almanack, with the rising and setting of the sun and moon, a monthly list of all the fairs in England, and the "Sunday lessons," a variety of infor- mation is furnished by some well-known hands. NIMROD tells all about farming operations, and contributes his quota of sporting articles on hunting and racing ; TONI OAKLEIGH, in August, September, and October, instructs us touching grouse, partridge, and pheasant shooting; Mr. WARDEN teaches what is to be done in gardening every month; and, in addition to a methodized list of all the hounds kept in England, other little bits are either con- tributed by or borrowed from other writers. Here is an absurdly ludicrous sketch of .A Groom and his Duties.—A groom is a chap that a gentleman keeps to clean his 'oases, and be blown up when things go wrong. They are generally wery concerted consequential beggars; and as they never knows nothing, why the beat way is to take them so young that they can't pretend to any knowledge. I always gets mine from the charity schools ; and you'll find it wery good economy to apply to those that give the boys leather breeches, as it will save you the trouble of finding him a pair. The first thing to do is to teach him to get up early, and to hiss at every thing he brushes, rubs, or touches. As the leather breeches should be kept for Sundays, you must get him a pair of corduroys; and mind, order them of large size, and baggy behind, for many 'oases have a trick of biting at chaps when they are cleaning them ; and it is better for them to have a mouthful of corduroy than a mouthful of the lad, to say nothing of the lois of the boy's services during the time he is laid up.
NIMROD ON RACE•HORSES.
The nature and stamp of the race-horse, together with his general manage. ment, has undergone a great change within the last thirty years. It is said that he is not the tine powerful animal he formerly was ; and perhaps it is truly said. He is, however, a Inure generally serviceable animal, inasmuch as his action is lighter and quicker, to suit the (for the most part) short races of the present day. There has also been another point gained by this evident change. The diversion of racing, which will ever be popular in /England, is divested of the charge of cruelty by the almost total abolition of three and four :Mk courses. In olden times, six arid tight mile races were run; and we have reason to believe the distance was once extended even to twelve.
A gre t traffic is now carried on between Great Britain and the Continent in horses of pure blood, to the alarm of many persons, who think that foreigners, Americans in particular, will in the course of time rival us in the breed. There is no occasion for this alarm : such is the superiority of Englishmen in the breeding and rearing this animal, together with the superiority of feed to that to be met with on the Continent, that recourse nowt always be continued to be had to the fountain-bead for pure racing blood ; and the demand for the foreign market rids England of much of its superabundant blood-stock, which can very well be Spared, to make room for that which is to succeed it. The change in the mamigenient 01 thorough.bred stock consists in the treat- ment of them during the first and second year of their lives. From the time of weaning, they eat very little grass, chiefly living on bay and oats, having physic given them as a safety-valve. This greatly increases tbe symmetry of their fewm, and prevents their being loaded at points which militate against speed. They are, however, not suffered to accumulate much flesh ; for aTat colt is almost certain to fall away when put to work, and generally goes amiss. It ii in their second year that they accumulate internal fat, called " adipose membrane " by the veterinarian ; which, by impeding the action of the heart and lungs, is necessarily inimical to clear wind. The prevention of these evils is effected by the frequent administering light doses of physic, and by gentle work anti sweats, during the second year.
The Oracle is embellished with fourteen appropriate and spirited illustrations ; which, judging from the price of the whole alma- flack, we conjecture to have been originally used for some sport- ing magazine.
2. The New EITitement, by the Editor of the Old, is as inter- esting and amusing as ever ; containing, indeed, more readable matter than many Annuals of a larger kind. At the same time, the editor, like ourselves, appears to have felt the dull character of new books, and to have resorted to questionable sources for some of his tales of the wild and wonderful. " A Bearish Actor," for example, though very laughable, and " Serpent Hunting," full of a sort of wondrous excitement, are too improbable in them- selves, and rest upon too dubious authority, to find a place in a book which purports to instruct youth as well as to amuse them.
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