496 A HISTORY OF THE PERCHEEON HORSE 



"It is the intention of their owners to use these 

 horses in producing reliable artillery horses from 

 Shire and Clydesdale mares, but they will also breed 

 true to type, using the several Percheron mares 

 accompanying the stallions, and so lay the founda- 

 tion for an English Percheron Stud Book. Let it 

 be added that this desire to try out the Percheron 

 in England is not an idle whim or passing fancy. 

 It is a thorough determination, brought about as 

 the result of sincere conviction on the part of army 

 authorities that the half-bred- Percheron fills the 

 bill best of the many types bought for us the world 

 over since the outbreak of the war." 



One point clearly brought out by the developments 

 of the trade in the past 2 years is that the United 

 States is the only nation with a surplus of horses 

 ranging from 1,200 to 1,500 pounds or over in weight. 

 Attempts to purchase such horses in Canada have 

 been made at different times since the war began, 

 but the proportion of horses obtained was so slight 

 in comparison with the total number examined and 

 the cost of inspecting and purchasing them was 

 so great' that practically all purchases have been 

 made in the United States, so far as North Amer- 

 ica is concerned. In South America the Argentine 

 appears to have been the only country which has 

 exported any considerable number of horses. About 

 150,000 head in all have probably been exported 

 from Buenos Aires since the war began. The cav- 

 alry horses bought there have brought about $90 

 in our money, and the best artillery horses fix)m $125 

 to $130. Inasmuch as the cavalry hoi-ses bought in 

 this country have brought from $125 to $150 and 



