382 TYPES AND MARKET CLASSES OF LIVE STOCK 



and steamboat and the building of canals restricted the horse's 

 field of usefulness by displacing the stage coaches and the Cones- 

 toga horses and wagons. The Conestoga type then became 

 extinct, being mingled and absorbed into the common stock 

 of the country. In France the diligence horse was gradually 

 developed into the Percheron breed. The application of elec- 

 tric power to street railways in 1888 closed a channel of disposal 

 for thousands of cheap horses such as were used on the old-time 

 horse cars, and the perfection of the bicycle and the fad for 

 cycling which followed led many to believe a horseless age was 

 at hand. But the street car horse was not a profitable animal 

 to produce, and many who took up the bicycle never owned a 

 horse anyway. Horses came into greater demand and brought 

 higher prices than ever before. 



Next came the automobile, the motor truck, and the tractor 

 and again a horseless age was predicted. It is a fact that 

 the motor is the strongest mechanical competitor the horse has 

 had to meet, and while it is impossible at this time to say with 

 exactness what the effects will be on horse production, enough 

 time has elapsed to show that the horse yet has an important 

 place on city streets and on roadways, as well as on the farm. 

 The automobile, motor truck, and tractor are not only doing the 

 work that is also done by horses, but they are doing work which 

 the horse cannot do. In other words, the motor has to a large 

 extent created its own necessity. There is, on the other hand, 

 a vast amount of horse work of various kinds which cannot be 

 done by motors. The horse and the motor each occupy fields 

 of their own, the margins of which overlap to some extent, and 

 here competition between the horse and motor is keen. The 

 carriage horse and roadster have felt this competition most. 



Many large business firms have sold their draft horses and 

 installed motor trucks, only to discover that the short haul 

 may be made more economically with horses, and they have 

 therefore reinstated horse equipment along with their motor 

 trucks. Farmers have found that tractor manufacturers are 

 o\er-enthusiastic regarding the tractor's ability to displace the 

 horse upon the farm. The horse's place in the realm of sport 

 is undisturbed by the automobile. Saddle horses, including 

 the hunter and polo pony, are in great demand, while racing in 

 harness and under saddle continues to prosper throughout the 

 country. 



