DISTRIBUTION AND STATISTICS OF PRODUCTION 505 



positions by the. great packing companies, breweries 

 and otber exhibitors. Without attempting to give 

 a detailed list of the winnings, it is worth while to 

 call attention to the fact that the Armour gelding 

 Jim, admitted by experienced judges to have been 

 the greatest gelding ever exhibited in America, won 

 first and championship in the heavy gelding classes 

 in 1903, 1905, 1906 and 1907. He has been the 

 only gelding to achieve such an extraordinary rec- 

 ord in the history of the entire show. 



All the geldings exhibited by Armour & Co. have 

 been grade Percherons. They won the heavy four- 

 in-hand class in 1904, 1905 and 1906, the class for 

 heavy geldings in the treys abreast in 1904, 1905 

 and 1906, and the class for the sixes in 1905 and 1906. 

 The high estimate placed on the Armour geldings 

 is abundantly attested by the frank admission 

 of Thomas B. Freshney, a breeder of Shires in 

 England, who freely acknowledged in 1905 that 

 they could turn out no such six-horse team in Eng- 

 land, taking size, draftiness, weight and dashing 

 action into consideration. At the International in 

 1907 Mr. Sparks of London, who at that time owned 

 the best pair of Shires in England, stated that all 

 prejudices aside he had never seen a gelding quite 

 so good as Armour's Jim. In 1906 Big Jim de- 

 feated Tom, a brown gelding sent over by King 

 Edward VII of England to uphold the honor of the 

 Shires at the International, and in 1907 he defeated 

 Drew, a horse that under the name of King Harry 

 was the champion gelding of Scotland in his day 



