68 A HISTORY OF THE PERCHERON HORSE 



Jean-le-Blanc— In the first volume of the French 

 Stud Book is the following entry: 



"Jean-le-Blanc, white, No. 739; born in Ome about 

 1823 or 1824; owned by M. Miard, Sr., Villiers-en 

 Ouche (Ome). It is to this remarkable _ stallion, 

 more than any other, that we owe a great improve- 

 ment of the breed. He was. recognized as a true 

 Percheron, and, nevertheless, was a descendant of 

 the famous Arab stallion Gallipoly, of the Haras du 

 Pin, that stood at the chateau of Coesme, near 

 Belleme. (For further information on this remark- 

 able horse see the book, ' Cheval Percheron, ' Charles 

 Du Hays.) 



"Jean-le-Blanc died at the advanced age of 32 

 years, exempt from all blemish. In going through 

 this book one will find a great number of horses 

 raised in The Perche during the last 50 years that 

 had Jean-le-Blanc as ancestor. This fact demon- 

 strates that the superiority to which the Percheron 

 breed has attained, surpassing all other draft breeds 

 in excellence, is due in a great part to the regenerat- 

 ing influence of the Arab, fortified by consanguineous 

 and judicious mating." 



At the very time this entry was being made there 

 were data lying buried under piles of other matter 

 at the Ministry of Commerce — the central Bureau 

 of the Haras was formerly under the administration 

 of that ministry previous to admitting the Minister 

 of Agriculture to cabinet rank — that would have 

 overturned these unsubstantiated but accepted pre- 

 sumptions. At least, there seems no other construc- 

 tion to be placed upon the facts we have adduced. 

 Let us recapitulate: 



The Evidence Summarized. — ^We have shown by 



