24 A HISTORY OF THE PERCHERON HORSE 



a great variety of old books and manuscripts relat- 

 ing to the past history of The Perche, we have only 

 been able to find occasional definite references to 

 agricultural operations as related to horse-breeding. 

 There is an original manuscript in the National Li- 

 brary entitled ' ' Memoire sur la Comte du Perche en 

 1 'annee 1698, ' ' from which we may quote as follows : 



"The meadows and pastures are very good, espe- 

 cially in the following places: Oirs, Couilimert, St. 

 Quentin, La Mesniere, St. Julien and Barville on the 

 Herinne and the Sarthe; and Eegmalard, Dorceau, 

 Conde, Condeau, Mesle and Theil, several of which 

 are on the river Huisne. But the high lands are not 

 very good. . . . These lands, however, are not 

 altogether useless, for in some cantons sheep are 

 fattened on the higher lands, while in other cantons 

 such as those of Logny, Lemage and Neuilly, where 

 this rough land is better than in the other cantons, 

 cows and oxen are fattened thereon. The sheep and 

 cattle fattened in The Perche are driven to Paris, to 

 the markets of Sceaux and Poissy." 



"The county is so ancient that its origin cannot 

 be found. It was one of the first provinces to be 

 established by our kings after the conquests of the 

 Gauls. 



"The Election of Mortagne comprises almost all 

 of the province of the Perche; it was created by 

 Charles the Ninth, King of France, Aug., 1572. 



"The Manors of Belleme and Nogent. — Belleme 

 has 57 parishes. Nogent is composed of a large 

 borough and 40 parishes. There are 1,300 men in the 

 borough. There are in all the parishes of the Elec- 

 tion of Mortagne 62,692 souls." 



Live Stock Husbandry Important. — On page 386 



