310 IOWA DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE 



The filly that topped the Shire class was fully as important, her last 

 year's record of winning foal being firmly maintained by a magnificent 

 1,500-pound draftiness seldom seen in such growthy proportions. Soder- 

 berg's Clydesdale winner combined beauty of line with high-class draft 

 form, while Rosenfield's Belgian youngster was freely typical of the low, 

 thick draftiness the breed's standards require. 



The excellence of the females in each breed as compared to the males 

 augurs well for future American draft production. While the impress 

 of the world's best stallions is fairly certain of being secured, the foun- 

 dation of the breeding stud is the mare stock. Economy often limits the 

 breeder here and the ascendency of this magnificent lineup of future 

 matrons foretells with accuracy the industry's future. Something of the 

 worth of these Percherons may be estimated when it is known that three 

 fine-typed imported fillies sired by three of the greatest stallions of the 

 breed, failed to land within the first twelve places. 



Not alone in the Percheron breed was this excellence marked. Big 

 drafty Shires that rival their elders in frame and their colleagues in 

 weight filled places of honor all the way down the line. One or two rug- 

 ged-built Clydesdales stood out among a wealth of the tidier type, while 

 the full-made forms of the Belgian entries gave ample reason for the tre- 

 mendous strides this breed is taking toward the popular favor of corn- 

 belt buyers. When one compares the rings of last week with the rings 

 of four years ago when undeveloped youngsters appeared to the numbe-- 

 of three or four in exceptional instances, the impetus of this commenda- 

 ble futurity can be at once realized. The ribbons were distributed by 

 the regular breed judges, Senator White working with Mr. Bell in the 

 Percherons, J. H. Truman assisting on the Belgians, R. B. Ogilvie aiding 

 on the Shires, and Chas. R. Taylor co-operating on the Clydesdales. 



DRAFT GELDINGS AND MAKES. 



The draft gelding and mare competition was divided into two groups, 

 one for Iowa competitors and the other open. In the open class Tru- 

 mans exhibited two magnificent three-year-old over-a-ton Shire geldings 

 that rejoiced in the names of Woodrow Wilson and Teddy Roosevelt. 

 When the awards were made these two followed last fall's precedent at 

 the polls, leaving Woodrow Wilson on top to later carry away the gelding 

 championship. This pair promises to furnish a sensation in the gelding 

 shows at maturity. The winners in the Iowa class stood next to them, 

 a pair of gray Percherons, Larry and Mike. They were five-year-olds of 

 a mighty useful sort. In the harnessed team class, the Truman Shires 

 had everything their own way, while in the Iowa division a neat-lined 

 straight-going team of Clydesdale mares, owned by Hixson, made off with 

 the honors. R. B. Ogilvie, of Chicago, did the judging. 



THE LIGHT HOUSE SHOW. 



The saddle show was fairly strong, the improvement in the Iowa classes 

 being especially marked. The four-year-old stallion ring and the class 

 for aged mare and gelding were the outstanding competitions of the 

 breed. The competition was extremely close, and Wallace Estill's mare, 

 Miss Cliff, won only after an hour's arduous rivalry. The combinatioa 



