184 CONTAGIOUS DISEASES OF DOMESTICATED ANIMALS. 



These are the men of whom all the leading American importers have been 

 buying for several years past. They buy these horses as Percherons, 

 from men who will call them nothing else, and yet a few of them come 

 home and abuse everybody who refnses to call them Normans. There 

 is not much in a name, but sometimes a name contains a deal of mean- 

 ing within itself. 



It was an agreeable surprise to me to learn that so much pains had 

 been taken by these Percherons breeders to preserve the purity of the 

 race. It had been asserted that nobody knew anything about it ; that 

 the Percherons were mongrels, and that no man could give the pedigree 

 of his horse. I found, on the contrary, that, while they have not j)aid 

 much attention to preserving the maternal genealogy, many of the sires 

 can easily be traced six or eight generations. One young horse, now 

 owned by Mr. Ernst Perriot, is a notew^orthy example. This horse is 

 a three-year old, and is so highly valued by his owner that he has ab- 

 solutely refused to name a price on him. Fifteen thousand francs were 

 offered for him by an Americau buyer in my hearing; but the owner 

 shook his head and said, " You might safely double it." This young 

 horse was got by the black horse Brilliant (No. 1271 of the Percheron- 

 Norman Stud Book), that now stands at the head of Mr. Dunham's 

 stud, at Wayne, 111., and the line of sires back of him is known for seven 

 generations. Mr. Perriot proposes to raise the service fee of this horse 

 to 100 francs next season, a price that has hitherto been unheard of in 

 the Percheron breeding district. As another instance of the care which 

 French breeders are taking to secure good breeding stock for themselves 

 I may mention the fact that Mr. Auguste Tacheau recently paid 3,000 

 francs for a suckling colt, which he designs to use in the stud. 



You will doubtless remember that one of the things discussed between 

 us at our interview a few days prior to my departure upon this mission 

 was the desirability of a Percheron stud-book in France in order to pro- 

 tect American breeders from imposition, and to afford some guarantee 

 of the purity of the blood of the horses brought to this country from 

 France. And you will also uo doubt remember that the desirability of 

 such a publication was made the subject of a special communication from 

 3'ou to the French minister of agriculture, at that time. It is therefore 

 with no small degree of satisfaction that I am able to report that the 

 Percheron breeders of France have fully resolved on a stud-book. The 

 meeting to which I have heretofore alluded, as having occurred ou the 

 day of my arrival at Nogent le Rotrou, was simply informal and pre- 

 liminary, but on Saturday, June 23, a largely attended meeting was 

 held at the same place, about one hundred breeders, representing the 

 provinces of Eure-et-Loir, Orne, Sarthe, and the w^holo of the ancient 

 province of La Perche, being j)resent. At this meeting a permanent 

 organization was effected under the sanction of the Government, with 

 M. Fardouet as president, and Messrs. Vinault, Perriot de Champeau, 

 Sagot Auatote Miard, Poullain, Lucas, Launay, Aveline, Tacheau, and 



