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THE HORSE, ASS, AND MULE 



in the eastern part of the kingdom, and the other the Frisonne, 

 which developed on the western coast. A variation from the 

 latter race was a large horse known as the Flemish. These two 

 races crossed more or less, from which developed the Braban§on 

 horse, or what is now commonly known as the Belgian. While 

 what we know in America as the Belgian is bred in most of the 

 nine provinces, the breed in its best estate is found in Brabant, 





Fig. 44. A farm scene in Belgium near Borsbeke, illustrating the intensive 

 cultivation practiced in that country. From photograph by the author 



in central Belgium near Brussels, in Hainaut south centrally 

 located, and in Namur and Li^ge in the eastern section. About 

 19 10 some fifty thousand horses were reported in Brabant alone. 

 The methods employed by the Belgian government to encourage 

 horse breeding, up to the opening of the World War, are of special 

 interest. These methods no doubt will be somewhat changed, 

 now that the war is over, but they are presented by the autlm 

 with the assumption that they are once more in operation as at 

 the opening of hostilities. Certain state regulations concerning 

 the breeding of draft horses are subject to constant supervision. 



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