THE NEW CENTURY DAWNS AUSPICIOUSLY 471 



with the breeders in Great Britain and Scotland so 

 that it was extremely difficult for other breeds to 

 obtain any foothold in the eastern part of the Do- 

 minion. 



With the development of the great Northwest, 

 Percherons came into more general demand. Many 

 of the settlers had come from the United States and 

 were well acquainted with the advantages which 

 Percherons possessed. Aside from this, extensive 

 traffic in live stock and in many other lines of busi- 

 ness sprung up between the provinces of western 

 Canada and the western part of the United States. 



The first extensive breeder of Percherons in west- 

 em Canada was George Lane, of the Bar U Ranch. 

 This great cattle outfit handled large numbers of 

 horses, and Mr. Lane, the managing partner, says 

 as follows: 



"When I first came to Canada from Montana, in 

 1883, tO' take charge of the cattle on what was then 

 the newly started Bar U Ranch, I was particularly 

 impressed by the absence of horses such as we had 

 been accustomed to in Montana, and some of the 

 other western states. By this I mean horses that 

 were able to do ordinary hauling and farm work, 

 and that also had the endurance and the speed 

 necessary for making long trips to the railroad, to 

 the democrat or buckboard. 



"After considering the matter carefully, and 

 noting conditions in different localities, I came to 

 the conclusion that it was Percheron blood that was 

 lacking in the horses of western Canada, There 

 were some excellent horses, particularly those sired 

 by Thoroughbred stallions, but the majority of the 



