280 A TREATISE ON HORSE-BREEDING. 



self. All authorities agreed in pointing- out Nogent-le- 

 Rotrou, situated about one hundred miles southwest from 

 Paris, in the ancient Province of La Perche, as the heart of 

 the Percheron breeding- country. * * * On the day of 

 my arrival at Nogent-le-Rotrou a large number of Percheron 

 breeders had met to consult upon the propriety of establish- 

 ing a Percheron Stud Book, in order to preserve the purity 

 of the race and to protect themselves from unscrupulous 

 dealers in Paris and elsewhere. I was much interested in 

 the discussion which took place. The gentlemen present 

 represented the principal breeders for some twenty or thirty 

 miles around, and I was told that they owned at least one 

 hundred stallions that had been kept for service this season. 

 I questioned many of them. Among others, the statement 

 of Mr. Ernest Perriot, one of the most noted of the breeders 

 present, is a fair sample of what all had to say. He is a very 

 intelligent gentleman, and has sold many horses to Amer- 

 ican buyers. I should judge him to be about fifty years of 

 age. His statement was in substance as follows: "I have 

 been breeding horses right here all my life, and my father 

 and grandfather were in the same business before me. We 

 never breed or sell any other than pure Percherons. We 

 have usually kept six or seven stallions each year for service. 

 They travel around the country, serving mares owned by 

 the farmers at about twenty-five francs each. We keep an 

 eye on these mares, know where the best ones are, and when 

 the foals are weaned we buy many of the best ones each year 

 and keep them until we can sell them at a fair profit. I am 

 sure there has been nothing but recognized pure Peicheron 

 stallions used in our stud since the time of my grandfather, 

 and nothing else has been used in this whole Percheron 

 region within my knowledge. There is a tradition that 

 about the time my grandfather engaged in the business some 

 Boulonnais blood was introduced into this country for the 

 purpose of increasing the size of the Percheron s, but cer- 

 tainly there has been none since about fifty years ago. The 

 true Percherons will now average as large or larger than 

 the Boulonnais. Neither Mr. Dunham, Mr. Dillon, nor any 

 other American importer, has ever bought any Norman 



