HORSES IN FRANCE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20536, 11 October 1928, Page 6

HORSES IN FRANCE.

WHAT A CENSUS REVEALED. In the central parts of Paris, where motor tars become more numerous year tc year, it often takes longer to go from the opera to the Madelaine in a taxi cab than on foot. One might ahnos thmk that horses had practically disappeared ip France. About the only ones to be seen in Paris arc the few decrepitlooking animals who draw old-fashione i victorias to the tune of a taxi meterNevertheless, there were more horses in the country in the year 1927 than there were in 1900, when motor cars wore novel and scarce, states the Paris correspondent of the New York Times. Figures recently published by the Bulletin des Halles, a market journal, show that Unhorse census last year totalled 2.027.230 while in 1900 the number was 2.903,067 In 1918. on account of the war. the horse por>nlat : on fell to 2.232.000. The French Army still buys many horses, and large numbers are exported, notably to Canada and the Argentine The peasants generally use horses foi farm work, tractors heir? relatively scarce. The small size of French farms has beer, an obstacle to the introduction of machinery on a scale.