390 A HISTORY OP THE PERCHERON HORSE 



duly chosen to fill the new directorships thus 

 created. 



Old Records Acquired. — At a meeting of this or- 

 ganization held in Chicago, Dec. 6, 1904, President 

 McMillan said in the course of his address : 



"We are now in possession of all of the original 

 books and records heretofore controlled by Mr. 

 Thompson. We are the only association having such 

 records. We have all records and original data in 

 the United States pertaining to the pedigrees of 

 Percheron horses, including the original applica- 

 tions, affidavits and correspondence connected there- 

 with. We are the only society in a position to issue 

 accurate and complete pedigrees and that can pub- 

 lish a stud book that is full and authentic in all 

 respects. We now own all the records. The certifi- 

 cates of pedigrees issued by us will be carefully 

 verified and can be relied upon as truthfully stating 

 the pedigree of the horse to which it relates. We 

 propose to issue stud books within the coming year 

 that will be a reliable and trustworthy record of 

 pedigrees issued up to date. Breeders and buyers 

 of Percheron horses everywhere can then verify their 

 pedigrees and know when they are being imposed 

 upon. 



' ' That the work of our association is appreciated, 

 there can be no doubt. A year ago we had less than 

 one hundred members; today we have 315. By our 

 next annual meeting I firmly believe we will have 

 over 500 stockholders. It should not be forgotten 

 that our membership represents live members who 

 are actually engaged in importing and breeding 

 Percheron horses and who have pedigrees to record. 

 With our present large list of active breeders and 

 importers and being in possession of all the original 



