Were I to give a good price for a promising young horse for the purpose of making him a hunter, and keeping him for my own use, and a man were to come into my stable and tell me he would give me one-third of his value if I would have him clipped, I would refuse his offer. I look upon clipping as nothing but a bad substitute for good grooming, and an operation attended with several disadvantages. In the first place, when once performed it must always be repeated; and in the second, it is a constant eye-sore to a person who is fond of seeing his horses looking well, as it effectually destroys that bloom on the skin which is not only so beautiful, but also so confirmatory of the sound health of the animal; and lastly, by depriving him of the protection which a short thick coat, lying close to the body, affords him against the scratching of thorns and briars, it very frequently causes a horse to refuse rough places in a fence which he would not have refused before. It is a remedy to be sure, or at least a palliative; but I had rather a horse of mine should endure the disease it is intended to relieve, until I could bring a better medicine to his aid; and were I to become possessed of a hunter which required clipping, I would put up with his long coat and evening sweats, until, by strengthening his general system, I got rid of the latter, to which the former is by no means a certain contributor. It is quite possible—and I have an instance at this moment in my own stable—for a horse to have a long coat (and some horses at certain periods will not wear a short coat), but still to look very blooming to the eye, _and dry immediately after a sweat_, as is the case with the horse I speak of. I am not weak enough to suppose that clipping will not continue to be practised because one individual disapproves of it; but I may be allowed to say, I will never after this year practise it again. The horse I had clipped last winter must now, I fear, be clipped again, for I abhor the sight of him in his present state—his coat somewhat resembling a poodle dog; but his evening sweats are got rid of by the method I pursued with him in the summer. Clipping may be all very well for those who cannot, or will not, get their horses into condition by other means; and to such only do I recommend it.—_Nimrod_—_Smith_—_Equestris._ CLOSE, _s._ A small field enclosed; the period when it is illegal to shoot or fish; the time of shutting up; a grapple in wrestling. CLOTHE, _v._ To invest with garments, to cover with dress. CLOVE, _s._ A valuable spice brought from Ternate; the fruit or seed of a very large tree; some of the parts into which garlick separates. CLOVEN-FOOTED, or CLOVEN-HOOFED, _a._ Having the foot divided into two parts. CLOVER, _s._ A species of trefoil. CLOUT, _s._ Anciently the mark of white cloth at which archers shot; an iron plate to an axletree. CLOY, _v._ To satiate, to sate, to surfeit.