SHIPPING HORSES TO GERMANY. 35 



imported from countries which have been declared infected by con- 

 tagions horse diseases. 



To increase the export of American horses to Germany it would be 

 advisable for American dealers and horse breeders to establish con- 

 nections with dealers in the large cities of Germany. This method 

 would be more advantageous than the establishment of special depots 

 for the sale of American horses. The Russian Government some 

 time ago established in Berlin stables, etc., for the sale of Russian 

 trotters and expended a great amount of money in carrying on this 

 establishment, but suffered considerable losses and finally concluded 

 to shut up the business. If the United States desire to find a market 

 in Germany for American horses it is absolutely necessary that great 

 care should be taken in carrying the horses across the ocean. Dealers 

 generally complain that American horses arrive in a very poor condi- 

 tion ;* in consequence prices offered for them are low, and to bring them 

 into condition costs time and money. Changes for the better would 

 be effected by making arrangements with one or the other of the 

 trans- Atlantic steamship companies. The statement made with refer- 

 ence to the condition in which the horses imported from the United 

 States arrive in Germany apply but to the inferior animals ; valuable 

 trotters are of course very well taken care of, but the price paid for 

 their transport is accordingly high. 



A STATEMENT OF EXPERIENCE AND OBSERVATION IN SHIP- 

 PING- HORSES TO GERMANY. 



[Extract from letter of Mr. John A. Meyers, formerly Director of the Experiment Station of West 

 Virginia, dated New York, June 7, 1898.] 



My partner in this business was an ex-German officer, highly con- 

 nected in Dresden and known to the secretary of war for the Kingdom 

 of Saxony and the officers of some of the regiments in the barracks at 

 Dresden. He is a citizen of Germany, which gave us considerable 

 advantage in our chances- of doing business in Germany over those 

 possessed by the ordinary American citizen, unacquainted with their 

 language, peculiar laws, and habits of business. 



An American shipping horses to Germany will find it more profitable 

 to ship heavy and medium draft horses. These can be sold in Ham- 

 burg, if landed in good condition, for from 650 to 800 marks a head, 

 equivalent to in round numbers from about $160 to $200 per head. 

 There is also a demand for a limited supply of fine saddle and coach 

 horses. It will not pay to ship anything except the best horses. The 

 army officers like to have good horses, for which they can pay from 

 $200 to $500 a head, depending upon the quality of the horse. There 

 is v however, a regulation, either written or implied, requiring them to 



* See letter of Meyers and letter of minister to Belgium, p. 24. 



