80 
WISCONSIN STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY, 
REPORTS OF SUPERINTENDENTS. 
DEPARTMENT A.—HORSES, ETC. 
BY H. C. MCDOWELL, SUPERINTENDENT. 
In making a report in Department A.—Horses, I must express 
myself as being highly gratified with the exhibit made at our State 
Fair of 1876. Being a stranger in this comparatively new state, I 
did not expect to find so large an exhibit of good, well bred horses 
of all classes as were there produced. Draft stallions, Clydes and 
Normans, brood mares and colts, of the two families, were there in 
full force, and in numbers and quality could not be surpassed. The 
show of roadsters was very large, exhibiting some of the best types 
of the Hambletonian, Mambrino, Abdallah, Alexandria, Norman and 
Clay families. Nor was this showing confined to stallions alone; 
the brood mares were there, showing the offsprings of the above 
horses, and as far as quality, size and action were concerned, ap¬ 
peared to me the finest exhibit in this class that I ever saw in a 
show ring. In carriage horses the showing was not as large as I had 
hoped to see in this very important class; yet the exhibit was good, 
and I would here suggest that the board, if possible, give more en¬ 
couragement to this much needed class of horses. I was much 
pleased to find the number of entries in the general purpose horse 
so few, and the sooner this class is stricken from our premium list 
the better. Let us instead, encourage the breeding from the best 
and distinct families, and throw out all mongrels of every class. 
In the speed class, although entries were not as large as I expected, 
I think had the weather been good they would have been sufficient 
to have made our purses whole. I know a good many came there 
to trot, but would not enter on account of the bad weather, nor do I 
blame them. Had not the elements been in a conspiracy against 
us, I think we would have made as fine an exhibit of speed as was 
ever shown at any state fair in any state, and as it was, I think our 
