In view of the fact that Flanders has been very much in the public eye for the past few months owing to its having been converted into a vast battlefield, it is interesting to remember that we English farmers of to-day owe at least something of the size, substance and soundness of our Shire horses to the Flemish horse breeders of bygone days. Bakewell is known to have obtained marvellous results among his cattle and sheep by means of in-breeding, therefore we may assume that he would not have gone to the Continent for an outcross for his horses unless he regarded such a step beneficial to the breed. It is recorded by George Culley that a certain Earl of Huntingdon had returned from the Low Countries--where he had been Ambassador--with a set of black coach horses, mostly stallions. These were used by the Trentside farmers, and without a doubt so impressed Bakewell as to induce him to pay a visit to the country whence they came. If we turn from the history of the Shire to that of the Clydesdale it will be found that the imported Flemish stallions are credited by the most eminent authorities, with adding size to the North British breed of draught horses. The Dukes of Hamilton were conspicuous for their interest in horse breeding. One was said to have imported six black Flemish stallions--to cross with the native mares--towards the close of the seventeenth century, while the sixth duke, who died in 1758, imported one, which he named “Clyde.” This is notable, because it proves that both the English and Scotch breeds have obtained size from the very country now devastated by war. It may be here mentioned that one of the greatest lovers and breeders of heavy horses during the nineteenth century was schooled on the Duke of Hamilton’s estate, and he was eminently successful in blending the Shire and Clydesdale breeds to produce prizewinners and sires which have done much towards building up the modern Clydesdale. This was Mr. Lawrence Drew, of Merryton, who, like Mr. Robert Bakewell, had the distinction of exhibiting a stallion (named Prince of Wales) before Royalty. It is well known that he (Mr. Drew) bought many Shires in the Midland Counties of England. So keen was his judgment that he would “spot a winner” from a railway carriage, and has been known to alight at the next station and make the journey back to the farm where he saw the likely animal. On at least one occasion the farmer would not sell the best by itself, so the enthusiast bought the whole team, which he had seen at plough from the carriage window on the railway.