182 CONTAGIOUS DISEASES OF DOMESTICATED ANIMALS. 



interest I myself had taken in some of the discussions growing out of 

 the business, led me to attach a good deal of importance to what I might 

 learn concerning them by a careful personal inv^estigation of some of the 

 controverted points. Among the most important of these were the fol- 

 lowing : 



1st. Are there any well-established distinct breeds of draft-horses in 

 France? 2d. What guarantees, if any, can American importers ob- 

 tain in France that the horses purchased by them belong to any par- 

 ticular race or breed, and that they are purely bred ? And 3d. To what 

 breed do the horses usually brought to America from France belong, 

 and in what part of France are they bred '? 



It may not be out of place for me to remark here that during the past 

 six years I have, myself, been compelled to participate in several con- 

 troversies, through the agricultural and live-stock papers of the country, 

 touching the draft horses of France and the name by which they should 

 be known in the United States. Throughout these controversies I re- 

 lied mainly upon such of the printed history of these horses as had been 

 translated into English, and upon what I could gather from intelligent 

 gentlemen who had personally given more or less attention to the sub- 

 ject in France. It was therefore with a good deal of pleasure and in- 

 terest that I embraced the opportunity afforded me, by my present visit, 

 to go into this question thoroughly for myself. And first let me sa}^ 

 that many American importers, especially the earlier ones, and some 

 even at the present day, go to Paris, buy their horses of a dealer who 

 has gathered them up from various quarters, and then return without 

 the slightest knowledge of the breeding of .their horses, or of the region 

 where they are bred. It is not to be wondered at, therefore, that such 

 men can tell nothing of the breeding of these horses when they get 

 home, because they know nothing, beyond the fact that they had bought 

 them of a French dealer at Paris, Dieppe, or Havre. If they attempted 

 to say anything beyond this, they simply drew on their imagination for 

 their so-called facts. After awhile, however, those with some experi- 

 ence in the business, and with some knowledge of good horses, began 

 to inquire into the subject, to try to find out where the good horses 

 came from, so that they might get them, if possible, from first hands. 

 I began my investigations in the same way. I went first to the sales 

 stables of Paris, fortified with all the knowledge I had been able pre- 

 viously to obtain upon the subject. I went first to M. Vidal, who is a 

 noted horse dealer of Paris, and who has undoubtedly sold more stal- 

 lions to American importers than all the other horse dealers of Paris 

 combined. In reply to my question, he said: "Fully 90 per cent, of 

 the horses that I buy to sell to Americans, for stallions, come from be- 

 yond Chartres, in the Perche; the others are picked up here and there, 

 wlierever we can find one good enough for the market; but we sell them 

 all as Percherons." The other dealers all told substantially the same 

 story. 



