80 FOREIGN MARKETS FOR AMERICAN HORSES. 



the American horse, and many of these are imported into Hamburg, but are 

 seldom mentioned by dealers there as American stock. 



The average price paid by the German Government for army horses 

 varies. For artillery, from $140 to $160, and for the regular remounts 

 of the cavalry about $200. The German Government reserves the 

 first right to select its cavalry and artillery horses from the countries 

 within the Empire that produce them, so that other nations must 

 take what is left. 



In east Prussia horses can be raised very cheap, as the land is not 

 dear and only fit for pasture, and the horses that bring a low price 

 are not broken at all when the Government gets them. 



In Germany, as elsewhere, the high-class carriage horse is the one 

 that sells best and is the scarcest, notwithstanding the German people 

 have been breeding this horse for years. The large carriage horses 

 come from Oldenburg, while Hanover and Holstein also produce car- 

 riage horses of a lighter type. 



There is such a range in prices of carriage horses in Germany that 

 it would be impossible to form an accurate estimate of their value, 

 since so much depends upon individual quality, appearance, action, 

 etc., as before stated. Farmers usually get from $300 to $500 for 

 good ones, according to the number of the desired qualities the horses 

 possess, but when the dealer has properly matched up a pair and 

 handled them for a short time they sell for all kinds of prices, just 

 as in England and elsewhere. Many of these horses are sent each 

 year to Paris and a large number of the best "actors" are sold at 

 high prices in Italy. The large landau teams bring the highest 

 prices and the brougham teams next, as is the case in the London 

 market. 



Except in the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg, the Government buys 

 all the horses that are used for breeding purposes and distributes 

 them throughout the breeding districts, taking care to select for 

 each particular district the horse possessing the peculiar type best 

 suited to the locality where he is sent. 



In Oldenburg the stalhons are owned by individuals, but must be 

 approved by the Government commission if used for breeding pur- 

 poses, and here the Government awards prizes to the best. 



The cost of producing horses in Germany does not differ much 

 from that in France and England, except that it is somewhat less in 

 Prussia, where much of the land is good for nothing but pasture. 

 In Oldenburg and Hanover, however, where the larger types are 

 raised, the cost is about the same as in England, and here the colts 

 not kept for breeding purposes are all put to work at 2 years of age. 



IN RUSSIA AND ITALY. 



I have considered the condition of the American horse trade in the 

 four most important countries to which we are now exporting, but 



