A PEEIOD OF PROPOUND DEPRESSION 373 



among, the best in the '80 's, were forced to sell, and 

 their stock was widely scattered. Many of the good 

 animals from these studs went to men who knew 

 nothing about Percherons and were virtually lost to 

 the breed. Some of Leonard Johnson's best horses, 

 however, went to the Upson Farming Co., and later 

 did considerable good for the breed. The William 

 Mies stud passed into the hands of his sons, under 

 the name of William Mies & Sons, about 1894, and 

 they continued the business for a short time, but 

 closed out before prices recovered. Willard & Fuller 

 was a strong firm and had the only prominent Per- 

 cheron stud established in Minnesota during the 

 depression. 



The Minnesota Percheron Horse Co. had by far the 

 most important stud in the state during this period. 

 One hundred and five Percherons are of record as 

 raised by this firm during the time considered and 

 the stud ranked first in Minnesota and eleventh in 

 the United States at this time. Niger 4986 (2951), 

 already described, continued at the head of the stud 

 up to and including the season of 1895. His colts, 

 like those of his illustrious grandsire Picador 1st 

 (7330), were large, stylish and good in the under- 

 pinning. They were sound and clean for the most 

 part, and demonstrated the value of the Picador 

 blood, noted for these characteristics. Fier-a-Bras 

 15746 (13555) was put into service in 1894 and 

 proved valuable, especially on the daughters of 

 Niger. Fier-a-Bras was a black son of Briard 5317 

 (1630), and was a large, massive stallion of good pro- 



