THE FRENCH STORY RESUMED 227 



the Stud 3ook of France, prepared by President 

 Fardouet, we extract the following: 



"In presenting the first volume of the Percheron 

 stud book to the public, the Societe Hippique Per- 

 cheronne is sensible of the keenest pleasure in hav- 

 ing accomplished a work that will be of untold value 

 to the future as well as the present breeders and 

 owners of the Percheron race. The organization 

 embraces in its membership nearly all of the promi- 

 nent breeders and stallioners of the Perche, many, 

 very many of whom have grown old themselves 

 in the commendable work, and whose ancestors for 

 generations have, like them, devoted their lives to 

 developing and fostering this matchless breed, 

 whose antiquity of origin stands first among those 

 of the equine races of civilized nations — a breed 

 that has been moulded to the necessities of the 

 different periods of its existence for hundreds of 

 years under the vivifying influences and climatic 

 effects of the Perche, as well as by the inimitable 

 processes of educating both males and females 

 from the earliest age and with the most judicious 

 care possible by the actual performance of the 

 work they will be called upon to do during their 

 lives, thus slowly and surely developing their physi- 

 cal capabilities and instinctive aptitudes into hered- 

 itary and transmissible forces, which have been 

 exerted with such potent power in the .amelioration 

 of all races with which it has come in contact. 



"In feudal ages the country required a class of 

 horses suited to an equestrian race, and the Perche 

 supplied them. Under the empire of a higher civili- 

 zation the peaceful pursuits of agriculture and 

 commerce demanded horses for the post, the dili- 

 gence, and for agricultural and draft purposes. The 

 Perche was called upon, and she met the demand. 



