A PERIOD OF PROFOUND DEPRESSION 375 



high-class horse, both individually and as a sire. He 

 won first in the aged stallion class at the Minnesota 

 State Fair and was made champion over some im- 

 ported horses that had won blue ribbons in many a 

 hard-fought showring. His only defeat came when he 

 encountered Gilbert and 3 of his get in the class for 

 get-of-sire. Norman Chief was a black, standing 

 about 17 hands high and weighing 1,950 pounds in 

 good condition. He was a well-balanced, active 

 horse, and proved very prepotent as a sire. He was 

 sold about 1894 for $2,000 to South Dakota. The 

 price speaks volumes for his merit, when his age 

 and the low price of horses is considered. Victor 2d 

 12780, sired by Norman Chief out of Sonora 1636, 

 was another good sire used, and Richelieu 21567, 

 bred by M. C. Hodgson and used a little later, left a 

 notable impress on the horses of Rock county. 

 While Mr. Hodgson did not breed many Percherons, 

 they were above the average in merit and the stud 

 has been a valuable one in the northwest. 



J. & D. Koester, Northfield Minn., was another of 

 the smaller firms which held on to Percherons 

 through dark days. They did not breed many, but 

 their success in the showring attests the fact that 

 they had some good ones. The Koesters made sub- 

 stantial winnings at the Minnesota State Fair in 

 1896, '97 and '98, defeating such exhibitors as the De 

 Lanceys and Willard & Fuller in some classes. The 

 influence of this stud was valuable because of the 

 good quality of the horses owned. 



Belleview Farm. — T. L. & J. L. De Lancey, whose 



