i8o 



MANAGEMENT AND BREEDING OF HORSES 



the pure-bred stallion lies in mating to the larger type of 

 grade mares which furnish us our best draft teams. A 

 large proportion of our draft teams contain Percheron 

 blood, as this breed is used more extensively in grading 

 up the draft horse than any other in the United States 

 (p. 434). Good results are obtained by crossing the 

 Percheron stallion on pure-bred draft mares of other 



breeds, as the 

 Clyde and 

 Shire. The re- 

 sulting offspring 

 is usually clean 

 legged and 

 readily fills the 

 general market 

 demand. The 

 most prominent 

 buyers of New 

 York and Chica- 

 go have testified 

 in the highest 

 terms to the de- 

 mand for Per- 

 cheron grades. 

 Distribution of the Percheron draft horse. — Because of 

 the general excellence of this breed it is very widespread, 

 having been introduced to all countries interested in the 

 development of heavy horses. By far the greater num- 

 ber have been imported to America and they have found 

 their way into almost every state in the Union and into 

 Canada. The records show that between 1851 and 1883 

 nearly 4,000 Percherons were imported or bred in the 

 United States, which were distributed as follows: Illi- 

 nois, 1,834; Ohio, Indiana and Michigan, 577; Wiscon- 

 sin, Iowa and Minnesota, 424; New York, Pennsylvania 

 and New Jersey, 280; Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska, 



Fic. 98. — Percheron Stallion "Negro" 



