41 



FRENCH BREEDS OF DRAFT HORSES. 



The following letter was received by the chairman of the Illinois 

 State Board of Agriculture in reply to request for an opinion as to the 

 relative merits of the French Draft Horses, and having been written 

 by Mr. Du Hays, who was formerly Master of the Horse to Louis 

 Napoleon, and now and for many year past editor of the Govern- 

 ment Stud-Book for Thoroughbred Horses, I reproduce it here, 

 believing it to be the honest opinion of a man who was in a position 

 to know the real merits of the Percheron horse : 



To some people a " draft horse" is simply a "draft horse," without 

 regard to breeding or origin. To these persons there are neither 

 Percherons, nor Boulonnais, nor Cauchois, nor Bretons, but simply 

 "draft horses," bought or raised in these different districts. Other 

 people, however, hold that different and distinct types exist. I do 

 not believe that any man at all informed on the horse question, any 

 man who has given the matter any study, can seriously entertain the 

 first opinion, because any judge of a horse has only to look at these 

 animals when he will recognize the fact that they are not of the same 

 blood, configuration, exterior, features, temperament, or aptitudes. 

 For me, since you have asked me to express my sentiments, the 

 Percheron is the king of draft horses, and you should enact strict 

 rules in America to preserve this breed pure from any foreign mix- 

 ture. You should, with this breed, develop a fine and powerful 

 nursery, locating it in a district resembling as near as possible its 

 native birth place, i. e., in healthy localities, preferably dry, with a 

 soil calcareous and stony, but not clayey. Couple only the most 

 perfect types of the racCj breed in-and-in, selecting from the males 

 the most energetic animals, the best ^ -ppers, the most vigorous, and 

 best limbed ; to express myself in one word, those stallions that have 

 been tried and found the best. Advance slowly and with precaution 

 in order to avoid mistakes, by which you would loose ground and 

 destroy the good results already obtained. Always correct defects 

 by opposite qualities, strengthing these qualities by helping them 

 with like qualities. In short, preserve strength, size endurance, 



