SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK — PART IV 319 



will be iMit a short time until draff <olts of uuquestionable quality and 

 value will be found in every section, and that Iowa will then be the 

 same outstanding leader in the draft hor^e industry that she now is in 

 general agricultural production. 



BELGIANS. 



Belgian interests have probably made greater strides in Iowa than 

 any other. We do not mean that there are more Belgian horses being 

 bred in Iowa at present than there are of the other breeds, but the 

 type and character of young stuff that is already being produced on 

 the various Belgian breeding farms, and the co-operative, get-together 

 spirit of the men who are engaged in producing this particular type, 

 are scarcely to be equaled by the interests of any other breed. The 

 Belgian show this year was one of particular merit. Breeders of Bel- 

 gians in Iowa practically have combined to make this state the nursery 

 for Belgian horses of the highest class; in fact, better than can be 

 produced anywhere else on earth. Speaking again of the excellence 

 of the exhibit, J. B. Conner, who is secretary of the Belgian Breeders' 

 Association, was positive in the statement that never before has a 

 better all-around Belgian show been seen in the United States. Mr. 

 Alexander Galbraith, that veteran horseman of more than forty years' 

 experience and knowledge of horse conditions in both the Old World 

 and the New, placed the awards in the Belgian division, and after com- 

 pleting the work, said that not only was it the best exhibit he has ever 

 judged, but that it was to him a remarkable revelation of the tre- 

 mendous strides that Americans have made in producing draft horses. 

 We do not feel that it is necessary to speak in detail of the different 

 classes or individuals shown, because to comment on part and not all 

 would be most unsatisfactory. Yet so splendid an exhibit as was led 

 out by Mr. Crownover, in the show for get of sire, can scarcely be 

 passed without comment. In an equine exhibit, replete with features, 

 this show of get was an outstanding feature. The reputation of the 

 Irvinedale Farm was ably maintained in the strong competition, while 

 Champlin Bros, contributed largely to the success of the exhibit. More 

 than a dozen other breeders helped to swell the number of exhibits, 

 and put on this hitherto unequaled show. The classes were well filled 

 throughout, giving the judge plenty of opportunity for discrimination, 

 and in the futurity classes forty-six head were shown. The awards tell 

 the remaining part of the story; it being necessary only to suggest that 

 draftiness of type, substance and quality, and satisfactory underpinning, 

 were the points which were kept always in mind in the placing. 



PERCHERONS. 



Taken as a whole, the Percheron show cannot be classed as having 

 been of the sarode outstanding character as was the display of Belgians. 

 Many of the entrants which are just starting on the circuit are not yet 

 in the bloom that they will show later in the season. Also, it is prob- 

 ably safe to say that the general apathetic condition of the draft horse 

 market for the last six months was slightly reflected in the general 



