182 THE HORSE IN AMERICA 



building material, and so on, is the cheapest way, 

 then draught horses will be less and less in de- 

 mand, and the French will lose one of their most 

 profitable markets for her large, heavy, and sym- 

 metrical horses. Still that may be a many years 

 off, and if I were Dr. Hartman or Messrs. Dun- 

 ham I should not just yet sacrifice my Percherons 

 to any save the highest bidder. 



Before the era of the draught horse from 

 France, those from England had a certain 

 amount of popularity. That has long since passed 

 away, and the Shires and Clydesdales in the 

 United States are not proportionally so numerous 

 as formerly. But they keep their popularity in 

 Canada, where probably the farmers, being 

 chiefly Britons, understand them better. That 

 they should have been supplanted by the Perche- 

 ron in the United States is no doubt due to the 

 fact that the Oriental blood in the French horse 

 makes that blood more assimilative with other 

 strains. The French coach horse is brought over 

 here to an extent for experimental use, and the 

 Cleveland Bays formerly were brought quite fre- 

 quently. Both, no doubt, have had temporary in- 



