24 THE PERCHEKOX HOESE. 



Put before two oxen, or joined to three of its companions, 

 it plows and is never overworked. 



Now, it is better fed, and taken a great deal better care 

 of. Its " morale" improves, and its master seems to delight 

 in contemplating the progress and the development of its 

 qualities. Thus, in traveling through Perche, one involun- 

 tarily stops in the midst of the fields to see it work, 

 never tired of admiring the vigor it displays, and the 

 gentleness with which it is treated. 



The bait is there. At the age of three the Beauce farmer 

 buys it to work his soft and light soil. For him, it must 

 be preserved intact, its development uninjured, nay en- 

 couraged. 



Master, servants, large and small, all deeply imbued 

 with the love of the horse, unite in this work with ad- 

 mirable skill. 



It has thus worked during one year, abundantly fed, 

 but receiving little or no grain. Doing enough light 

 work to pay for its keep, the master has received, besides 

 its manure, a heavy interest on the cost, as we will pres- 

 ently see. 



This premature work, which would have been injurious 

 under a careless management, is, on the contrary, beneficial 

 when it is in the hands of a good master. This is so much 

 the general case, that the contrary is the exception. The 

 animal grows and becomes better developed in size and 

 strength. 



Now, as we before observed, the Beauce fanner comes 

 to buy. He lives in a country of proverbial richness. 

 The work there is abundant, but the nature of the soil ren- 

 ders it extremely easy. The fields, very much divided, 

 and distant one from another, make a rapid gait indis- 

 pensable. 



In Beauce, the horse cannot be replaced as a beast of 

 burden ; no matter how dear his keeping, his use is indis- 

 pensable ; the ox cannot be his competitor. But it is a 



