500 A HISTORY OF THE PERCHERON HORSE 



on farms in the east to but a limited extent. The 

 percentages of the total number of eastern farms on 

 which yearling colts were found follows : Connecti- 

 cut, 2 percent; Maine, 5.4; New Hampshire, 3.4; 

 Rhode Island, 1.3; Vermont, 9; Massachusetts, 1.9; 

 New York, 9.5, and Pennsylvania, 11.1. It is true that 

 horses may have been produced on some farms that 

 did not report yearlings in 1910, but the percentage 

 of yearlings available in any year is a fairly accu- 

 rate index to horse production in any particular 

 district. The farms in the east are not producing 

 as many horses as they need in their actual farm 

 work, to say nothing of surplus fit- and available for 

 city use. The thousands upon thousands of draft 

 horses annually shipped from western farms to the 

 eastern states are used for all kinds of transporta- 

 tion purposes where strength and weig'ht is needed. 

 Ice companies, coal companies, transfer companies, 

 manufacturing establishments, department stores, 

 wholesale houses, warehouses and mills are all ex- 

 tensive users of draft horses, and the farms of New 

 England also take large numbers of draft horses 

 every spring for use in agricultural work. The lum- 

 ber interests in this territory are also extensive and 

 require large numbers of horses to go into the woods 

 each fall. There are more than 100 dealers or firms 

 located in the states mentioned which make a busi- 

 ness of handling heavy draft horses for the eastern 

 trade. 



"From all that I have been able to learn, the 

 demand for heavy draft horses between July 1, 1916, 

 and Nov. 15, 1916 was probably as good as it has 

 been at any time within the past 20 years. I feel 

 satisfied that the prices which the dealers in the east 

 obtained from the ultimate consumers were as high 

 as at any time since 1900, if not higher. 



