As there now exist neither diligences, couriers, mail nor post-coaches, for which the gray Percheron was formerly required for the night road service, there is no longer any imperious reason for preserving his old coat; henceforth he may be bay or dark colored. And, provided he becomes so by the aid of a dark-coated Arabian, or a heavy, well-bred Merlerault, or by a fine specimen of a Norfolk, the type of his race, I see therein no inconvenience. When steam machines, to supply the hands which are wanting, will plow our fields and perform the hardest work, we will have no longer to regret that our Percheron laborers have not the gray color which possessed the property of turning the scorching rays of the sun. One of our greatest writers, one of our lights in equestrian science, has, however, written: “The use of stallions of mixed blood, borrowed from foreign races, left but regrets in Perche. It has produced vices of disposition and blemishes which did not belong to the Percheron horse, and has given him in exchange no good quality. It has disturbed the structure of the progeny without any gain in form or endurance.” Notwithstanding all my respect for this high authority, let me be allowed to ask him if he has ever seen the progeny, too rare it is true, of some well-chosen stallions in close affinity to Percheron blood, called _Gallipoli_, _Sandy_, and _Bayard_? Never did finer results gratify the pride of a breeder, never did trotters drag heavy diligences with more power and ease, and never did sons transmit more faithfully to their descendants the image and characters of their ancestors. Doubtless he was only shown the numerous and heterogeneous progeny of even the best full-blooded stallions _Sylvio_, _Eylau_, _Reveller_, and others by Percheron mares—crossings so surprising in their absence of affinity that I am still astonished that the thought of them ever entered a reasonable mind. When in the absence of stallions of our own, such as we wish, I advise the use of foreign ones, I do not give this counsel blindly, but, select the types appearing to me the best adapted to the purpose, and instead of proceeding with giant strides I would pursue the work with a patient and prudent slowness. PART III. INFORMATION TO STRANGERS WISHING TO BUY PERCHERON HORSES. [Illustration: Decoration]