The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1877-10-01
TIE PRESS.
FARM AND HOUSEHOLD.
The Percheron Horse.


housekeeping has been, with few e1-
ceptions, an unremuneratve industry so
long, and breeders have been so earnestly
trying to make it more profitable, and have
been SO many times disappointed, that it
seems pity to have them persuaded into
any more unpromsing experiments. If it is
a duty to examine thoroughly the merits of a
new but highly recommended fodder plant
before bringing it to the attention of the
public, then it is duty of double Importance
to be familiar with the nature and prospects
OF cross, before recommending it to breed
ers at such time as the present.
Ihese reflections are the consequence of
articles in the American Agriculturist for
June and July, on the Arabian Percheron
cross, in which are two statements of great
Importance, to which desire to call partcu-
lar attention. They are as follows:
1. "The French Percheron derives his
fine bone, his symmetry, his soundness of
constitution and his capacity for hard work,
from the Arab. The chief point of value in
these horses is their adherence 10 the Arab
TYPE, and their possession of the fine bone
and symmetrical build of their ancestral
race"
2. ga medium sized horse spring!ng from,
say the Percheron, or some other heavy race.
on the one side, and the thoroughbred on
the other, should combine all the excellent
points to make it valuable as working ami
NAL except for rapid work. For horse for
the general uses of the road or farm, the
nearer we can approach the union of the
thoroughbred with mares of the larger class,
the nearer we approach perfect work
horse"
ORIGIN OF THE BREED.
Now, is the Arab the ancestral race of the
Percheron, and does the latter derive any of
its qualities from that source? l believe not.
When in France, in 1872, made particular
inquiries as to the origin OF the Percheron
horse and found one opinion, viz, that it
was one of the native French races, and had
inhabited the localities where it is now found
from time immemorial But since this state
ment comes from source that ought to be
both careful and accurate, ana since the pre-
tended Arab origin dates back to the times of
the Crusaders, shall not trust to my own in
formation, but will give the opinion Of men
who are natives of France, who have been
in positions where they were called upou to
investigate the origin of these horses, and
who undoubtedly know as much of the mat
ter as is to be known and we shall see how
much importance is placed upou it IN their
native country.
M. Magne, formerly director of the veter-
mary school of Abort, and professor of
zootechnics in the same institution, in his
work on Applied Veterinary Hygiene, divides
the horses OF France into two classes, chez
GuI c0nlnat1ls and cheUduG fins. In the first
class we find the Percheron, Breton. Boulon-
mis-, &C. and in the second the Normand,
Anglo-Normand, and other horses that have
been crossed with the thoroughbred, And
speaking of the Percheron, he expresses a
doubt as to their origin, but supposes it
the same as the Breton, which Samson says
was evidently brought from the British isles,
where the same type of horses may still be
found. In speaking further of the Percheron
he (Magne )says: "Less homogeneous, the
true Pereheron type is found, above all, in
the departments of Eure-et-Loir and Loir-et
Cher. 1t constitutes the beau Percheron
with oblique sholders, long Group, projecting
hips and fine legs. 1t is the fruit of mans
work, like the fertility of the soil which
nourishes it, and it gets its qualities less from
its ancestors than from the oat SACK" He
gives no intimation that the Percheron de-
rives any ofits qualities from thoroughbred
blood, but says, what any one knows who
has been in these provinces, that many mon
grels may be found, in all the departments,
between the native horses and the thorough
bred. But none of these mongrels are con-
sidered true Percherons, and any one who
imports them for such is evidently laboring
under delusioD.
But now want to call attention to what
M. Samson says in his Treatise on Zootech-
nies-a gentleman who is professor of zoology
and zootechnics at the Agricultural School of
Grignon, and whose work above mentioned
is one of the best in existance on this subject.
He first speaks of the common horses,
among which he classes the Percherons, as
having been bred in the same localities as at
present from time immemorial, and, speak
ing of the Percheron in particular, he says:
SAIL attempts at crossing with the English
thoroughbred have long since been ended.
The practical sense of the breeders has
brought good order there, not partaking in
the least of the opinion of the regenerators,
one of whom lately wrote in regard to the
Pefcheron horse that the happy influence of
blood can no longer be contested except by
ignorance or dishonesty Thoroughbred
blood of course was meant. These express
sions are hard for those who deny this happy
influence, ii. e., the breeders) and who have
founded Societe hippSque to remove it for
ever in however feeble proportion it may
exist" To understand the situation there,
it is only necessary to add that during the last
fifty years the government, in order to get
caverly horses, placed thoroughbred stall
lions in every department, and endeavored to
persuade breeders to cross all classes OF
horses with them, and in this way the large
number of mongrels already mentioned have
been produced
Finally, M. Gayot, author of La France
Chevdltne, formerly chief of the division of
haras to the minister of agriculture, and an
eminent authority, says: 'The heavy
draught horses lin which he includes the
Percheron) is the antipode Of the thorough
bred No one knows exactly their
origin; it is an animal created by the hand
of man for temporary exgences, and of
which the form, the volume, the hight, have
been SUCCESSFULLY increased according to the
time and wants."
That is none of these authorities even init
mate that the Percheron is derived from the
thoroughbred, or that he has any thorough
bred blood in his veins and we may there
fore conclude that if his good qualities are de-
rived from this source, the French have not
yet found it out.
CROSSING WITH THoROUGHBREDs.
We will now pass to the point, subject
ofextreme Importance to the horsebreeders
Of our country, land see what are the probabili-
ties Of cross between the thoroughbred and
mares of the larger class like the Percheron,
producing perfect work horse for the gener-
al uses of the road or farm. Observation
with all varieties of animals has established
the fact that the more violent the cross the
greater is the variation in the offspring-in
other words, the greater is the uncertainty of
producing the animal we desire; for while
some will be medium between the parents,