386 A HISTOEY OF THE PEBCHERON HORSE 



horse-breeding in the United States that was much 

 more far-reaching than the figures would seem to 

 indicate. The wide publicity attending the inspec- 

 tions focused attention on the fact that there was 

 a shortage of horses abroad and that the United 

 States was the best place in which to make pur- 

 chases. Confidence in horse-breeding was gradually 

 regained, and the steadily increasing demand for 

 commercial horses and the increased prices which 

 users of draft horses were willing to pay served to 

 strengthen it. Wyoming bronchos that had sold for 

 $5 or $10 a head during the '90 's brought $55 in 

 1902 for shipment to South Africa. 



The opening decade of the new century saw an 

 advance in prices paid for farm products of all 

 kinds. Farmers began to bestir themselves to an 

 appreciation of the increased yields resulting from 

 more thorough tillage of their lands. Improvements 

 in agricultural machinery made it possible for one 

 man to do more work on the farm; to operate his 

 improved machines additional horsepower was re- 

 quired. The increase in the number of draft horses 

 used in farm work and the increase in the weight 

 and strength of these horses, were among the more 

 marked developments of this period. The Interna- 

 tional Live Stock Exposition, founded in 1900, had 

 fairly struck its stride by 1902; its unequaled dis- 

 plays of draft horses of all breeds, both in the pure- 

 bred and market classes, aroused interest and in- 

 spired the leading farmers and horsemen of the 

 United States to redoubled efforts in improving the 



