I 
WHAT ABOUT THE PERCHERON? 
Color, Galt, Size, Prospects. 
1. What colors are In greatest demand—blacks or grays P 
2 Is the tender cy among breeders to attempt to increase 
the size of Percherons or to increase their size and 
activity ? 
3. In what parts of the country are Percherons in greatest 
demand ? 
4 Under what circumstances would you 
not advise the purchase of Percherons ? 
5. To what mistakes in breeding are most 
failures with Percherons due ? 
6. Does the best American bred Percheron 
differ from the French animal ? Have 
our breeders still a great necessity for 
importing breeding animals ? 
In the West, Size: the East, Activity. 
1. The color at present most in demand 
is black. 
2 For some years there has been a ten¬ 
dency among Western breeders, we think, 
to increa-e the size, although we think 
they have discovered that a mistake has 
been made in this respect. Eastern breed¬ 
ers d not care so much for size as for 
quality, activity and durability. The 
medium sized Percheron, well made up, 
blocky and compact, active, with plenty of 
nerve ami muscle, is much more popular in 
the East, and we think there is a general 
tendency towards this style of breeding 
throughout the country. 
3 Percherons are in greater demand we 
think in the West than in the East. 
4. We would recommend the Percherons 
highly—pure-bloods, or nearly so—for 
heavy draft work, and the grades, when 
from well-bred dams, for farm and general 
purpose work. 
5 We think the greatest mistake made 
by Percheron breeders lies in the fact that 
the best class of sires has not always been 
selected. Many of them are too large and 
coarse, lacking muscle, activity and nerve. 
6. We think the best Percheron for France 
would also be the best for America. Our 
impression is that there is no special need 
of further importations of this breed in 
order to improve the horses of this country, 
or, in other words, that the market can be 
well supplied with stations of home breed, 
ing. These remarks refer especially to Per¬ 
cherons, without making any comparisoi 
with other breeds. smiths & powell. 
Onondaga Co., N. Y. 
Quality Preferred to Color. 
1. For the past two years I have found 
the color to be a less important factor with 
the purchasers of purebred animals than 
quality, and my sales of the two colors have 
been about equal. 
2. Our efforts in the breeding of pure¬ 
bred animals is to keep the size already at¬ 
tained and still further increase the style 
and activity. 
3. This is a hard question to answer ex¬ 
cept as far as our own sales show us. My 
sales of Percherons have been excellent 
both East, South and West, but I have had 
very little trade in the North. 
4. I would advise the purchase of first- 
class purebred Percheron stallions in any 
locality where colts of any kind are raised, 
and where heavy stallions aren.t already 
owned in the immediate vicinity. I would 
advise the purchase of grade and purebred 
stock for farm and general work as well as 
heavy draft; but a very satisfactory way 
is to breed one’s best mares to the best Per¬ 
cheron stallion within reach or that one can buy, remem¬ 
bering when one is raising stock to sell, buyers will pay 
him for quality. 
5. To the poor quality of the sire or dam or both. The 
reputation of the Percheron horses has been injured in 
some localities by the use of stallions supposed to be pure¬ 
bred, but which in reality were crossbred French horses 
imported and sold on the reputation of the Percheron 
breed. 
6 Purtbred Percherons tes 1 -, suited for America do not 
differ from the horses needed in France. Our breeders have 
no great necessity for importing breeding animals As good 
purebred stock can be raised in this country as in France. 
Cayuga Co., N. Y. JOHN w. akin. 
Grays Wanted; Style and Action. 
1. While some importers are trying to work up a boom 
on black horses, I could not sell 10 per cent of blacks and 
bays, while I am selling 90 per cent of grays. In the case 
of two horses of the same size and conformation, the color 
makes the gray look larger and finer. 
2 I think that the tendency is to improve their con¬ 
formation, style and action, rather than their size. 
3. My sales include Nova Scotia, Georgia, California, 
Manitoba and intermediate points, quite generally over 
the country. 
4. It would be hard to conceive circumstances where 
Percheron horses would not be desirable for any kind of 
draft, or what is sometimes termed “ rapid draft ” work, 
including heavy and light trucks, express 
and farm work. They are, of course, not 
coach or driving horses. 
5. The mistakes are manife=t'y due to 
breeding mares that are blemished and 
that in many cases have constitutional or 
hereditary defects. By far too many are 
considered good enough to raise a draft 
colt from, and in many cases a Percheron 
horse will succeed in getting sound colts 
from such stock. 
6. The Percheron is used in France for 
all kinds of dra F t work, for the bus and 
tram, and every sort of farm work, and 
does not differ from the horses needed here 
for similar purposes. There is no necessity 
to import more than a limited number of 
Percherons from now on, as the country is 
pretty well stocked and a good maoy are 
being raised. H c. FARNUM. 
Wayne Co., Michigan. 
Still Need to Import. 
1. Dark gray in geldings. 
2. Quality. 
3. Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, 
Nebraska and Kansas. 
4 Where it is desired to breed road horses. 
5. The crossing of too large and poor 
horses upon small mares. 
6. Yes, Americans will not raise good 
breeders until many changes are made in 
the handling of the youog stock. Good in¬ 
dividuals can not be raised on short rations 
or by overfeeding and idleness. 
De Kalb Co., Ill. w. L. ellwood. 
We Need More French Mares. 
1. The general public prefer black. Horse¬ 
men prefer the best horse. 
2. The tendency has been to increase size. 
Many breeders are making a sad mistake 
by breeding for color. 
3. All over the Northern States where 
there is money to buy them with. 
4. For all farm and draft purposes. 
5 The failure has largely been owiDg to 
the Inability to raise full-bloods by one or 
two crosses on scrub stock and in part to 
the importation of inferior bred stock. 
6. None whatever as far as I can see. We 
need many mares and a few of the choicest 
studs every year. This is a large country 
and too much substance has been wasted 
on the “ desert air ” (scrub stock). 
LiviDgston Co., Ill. j. p. mcwilliams. 
Two Western Notes. 
1. Blacks. 
2. Size. 
3. The demand is light in all sections. 
4. When a party has neither money nor 
credit. 
5. The mares have not been large enough. 
6. In no respect. We have hardly enough 
in America yet. Hiram c. wheeler. 
Sac Co., Iowa. 
1. Blacks. 
2. Size and action. 
3. For breeding, the Central and West¬ 
ern States ; for dark, the large cities and 
the pineries. 
4. For fast road work or fast driving 
that is, faster than six miles an hour. 
5. To bad selections of the dams to mate with the stal¬ 
lions. 
6 . We want larger horses here than are needed in France. 
As long as we can buy the best, we should continue to 
import, as we cannot yet raise enough in this country. 
Walworth Co., Wis. H. a. briggs. 
