168 A HISTORY OF THE PEECHEEON HOBSE 



ing Co., and bought in 1874 by Jones.* By 1880 the 

 firm had bred and reared 5 stallions and 8 mares, of 

 more than average merit. 



Ajax 5 was about 17 hands high and weighed 

 approximately a ton when in good flesh. He made a 

 tremendous improvement in the size of the Perche- 

 rons in Ohio, and was a very prepotent sire, both as 

 to size and color. In the 18 years during which 

 he was used at Pleasant Valley Stock Farm he never 

 sired a colt that was not gray in color. Belle 522 

 was the best brood mare of those owned by the 

 Jones firm at this time. She produced altogether 5 

 stallions and 3 mares, most of them foaled before 

 1880, and her descendants are to be found in all parts 

 of Ohio. 



The other Ohio breeders operating during this dec- 

 ade produced but two animals each, but they had 

 laid the foundation for more extensive work and 

 had, through the use of Percheron sires, made 

 notable improvement on the common horses of their 

 districts. 



The East and the Far West. — The men who stood 

 third and fourth in number of Percherons bred dur- 

 ing this period were S. W. Ficklin of Virginia with 

 13, and W. C. Myer of Oregon with 12. Both were 

 pioneers in their respective states, and must be given 



*C. M. Jones, the son, then associated with his father, states 

 that the farmers in his part of Ohio had the value of draft horses 

 driven home to them most forcibly during the Civil War, when the 

 descendants of Louis Napoleon, Pleasant Valley Bill, and the Baker 

 Horse brought twice as much as common horses and were eagerly 

 sought for by army buyers. The lesson struck home and the farm- 

 ers gave liberal patronage to draft sires thereafter. 



