THE BREEDS OF HOESES. 279 



the original Percheron type, as in the five departments first 

 above mentioned their original home. In that part of 

 Normandy lying along the coast, especially north of the 

 Seine River, the Flemish element seems to have made its in- 

 fluence more strongly felt, and there the horses possess more 

 of the Flemish and less of the Percheron characteristics 

 than those bred farther south, in the heart of La Perche, 

 which will account for the diversity in the character of the 

 horses brought to this country by our importers. Those who 

 have purchased near the coast, or north of the river Seine, 

 have usually obtained horses that leaned strongly toward 

 the Flemish type. They are larger, coarser and more slug- 

 gish, with less energy, endurance and action, than those bred 

 in Eure et Loir and the adjacent departments. They are 

 better adapted to heavy draft purposes than their lighter, 

 but more hardy, active and stylish relations of the interior, 

 frequently weighing from 1,700 to 2,000 Ibs. in high flesh, 

 and producing larger horses when crossed upon our common 

 stock. 



In the report which I made to the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, in 1883, of my observations 

 on the live stock of Europe, I spoke of the 

 Percheron as follows: 



I went first to the sales stables of Paris, fortified with 

 what knowledge I had been able previously to obtain upon 

 the subject, beginning with that of M. Vidal, a noted horse- 

 dealer of Paris, who has undoubtedly sold more stallions to 

 American importers than all the other horse-dealers of 

 Paris combined. In reply to my question he said: "Fully 

 ninety per cent of the horses that I buy to sell to Americans, 

 for stallions, come from beyond Chartres, in the Perche; the 

 others are picked up here and there, wherever wo can find 

 one good enough for the market; but we sell them all as 

 Percherons." The other dealers all told substantially the 

 same story. After spending a few days in Paris, talking 

 with horsemen and gathering what information I could, I 

 determined to see the Percheron breeding district for my- 



