78 THE PERCHEEON HOESE. 



trade, to carry on its business, sheltered itself under the 

 cloak of the breeder ; for this does not constitute breed- 

 ing any more than the trade in bread-stuffs carried on in 

 a farm-house constitutes agriculture. 



Finally I would call the attention of the Percheron farmer 

 to two suggestions. Suppose the supply of horses from 

 the departments of Orne, Eure and Loir, Loir and Cher, 

 Eure and Sarthe, and from the district of Mortagne, 

 now amounting to about sixty thousand head, should 

 outrun the demand of the omnibuses and wagons ; the 

 remedy for this would be to aim at greater style and 

 beauty, at the same time preserving the qualities required 

 by the omnibuses and express companies. We would 

 thus create another outlet for our stock, through the de- 

 mands of the dealers in fancy horses, and the consumption 

 of the army, and bring the Percheron race very near to 

 perfection. 



No disappointment need be feared in crossing the Per- 

 cheron with a foreign stallion, either a heavy Arabian, a 

 strong, well-bred Merlerault, or a dark colored Norfolk, 

 on the express condition that this stallion should be select- 

 ed with care, and be of the best stock of his breed. The 

 Arabian can be placed everywhere, both on poor land and 

 in the hilly districts ; where the progeny of the other 

 stallions would not thrive, his will succeed well. The get 

 of the Merlerault, and of the English horses especially, re- 

 quire the most fertile and the best cultivated districts. 



If the results of these crossings, male or female, be suc- 

 cessful, they may be well employed in breeding, and, after 

 some generations, in the districts where breeding is carried 

 on with care, they may become the starting point of a 

 choice stock. Commencing with the qualities of good 

 and substantial post-horses, the Percheron could be elevat- 

 ed to the dignity of the carriage-horse, and in other less 

 fertile localities to staunch and compact hunters. 



Those showing no improvement, (too many of which 



