178 MISSOURI AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 



from the north as they do of the southern blood in them. They are 

 strong, large, vigorous and broad-minded ; in other words, they are 

 more like the people of America than perhaps those of any single 

 nation in luirope. 



The horses bred in that country are of the t}pc that one would 

 expect. There is no breed of draft horses in the world that possesses 

 the same strength, the same force, the same elegance of conforma- 

 tion, the same activity, the same ability for moving heavy loads at a 

 rapid pace as does the Percheron. It has been proven without any 

 question, and without danger of its being refuted, that the Percheron 

 horse crosses better and does better than any other draft horse in this 

 country; therefore, the horses brought from France to America are 

 not compelled to undergo any great climatic changes. I am c'ertain 

 that it is duL' to a great extent to this fact that horses from France 

 have been so successful in America. 



The French people have been for centuries aided in the improvement 

 of their breeds of horses by the government. At the present time no 

 stallion is permitted to stand for public service in France until he 

 has been passed upon by the government officials. This has aided 

 very materially in the perfection of both the Percheron and the French 

 Coach breeds of horses. 



The Percheron horse is bred in his purity in the district south- 

 west of Paris, beginning about fifty miles from Paris, at Chartes, and 

 extending about seventy-five miles west. It is oval in shape and is 

 about fifty miles wide. In it are some of the most fertile valleys in 

 the world. The country is broken, and on this account gives the 

 necessary encouragement to producing not only a heavy horse, but 

 one with great activity as well. 



The Coach horse is bred in the country north of the Percheron, 

 between Alencon and the English channel. They are in no way in- 

 termingled, as the line between the district where Perchcrons are 

 bred and where Coachers are bred is very well defined. 



The Percheron is known throughout the whole of this country. 

 In color he is usually gray or black. At the present time the black 

 probably predominates. In height he is ordinarily about sixteen 

 hands. In weight from sixteen to twenty-two hundred pounds, de- 

 pending to a very great extent on the amount of flesh he carries. These 

 horses have been bred in the same district, the son breeding and fol- 

 lowing in the footsteps of the father, from time immemorial. They 

 have been imported in large numbers to America, in fact such a drain 

 has been made upon the country that a great many of the inferior 



