1576 DEVELOPMENT OF AGRICULTURE IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES 



Outside crosses are not encouraged and improvement is obtained by 

 the method of selection and in-breeding. 



The characteristics of thefour chief Swiss breeds— Simmenthal,Schwitz 

 Friburg and Kerens — are given in this article as well as their geographi- 

 cal distribution in the country-. 



III. — There are 850 cooperative live stock societies in Switzer- 

 land (i) amongst which the two chief breeds, Simmenthal and Schwitz, 

 are distributed in about equal numbers. 



IV. — Swiss goats have long had a very good reputation abroad and 

 exports of the Toggenburg breed to England were begun as early as 1886. 

 During the nineties goats were much improved b3^ a careful selection of 

 breeding stock without bringing in any foreign blood. The four chief 

 breeds are : the \^alaisian or Black Neck, the White Saanen or Gessenay, 

 the Alpine, and the Toggenburg. There are a number of goat clubs, 

 and during the years 1908 to igio the Federal Government granted 

 the following bonuses to prize animals : 



£ 490 to 1 1 84 animals in 1908. 

 £ 570 to 1225 animals in 1909. 

 £ 650 to 1335 animals in 1910. 



Swiss goats yield on an average 150 to 180 gallons per annum. In 

 the valleys they are kept by the smallholders and graze the land near the 

 homesteads, but on the higher ground there is usually a village 

 goat-herd who collects the animals ever^^ morning and takes them to 

 the upland pastures for the da}-, bringing them home again each evening. 

 There are 115000 herds in Switzerland averaging 32 goats per herd. An 

 active export trade is done with Germany where the Swiss breeds have 

 given excellent results when crossed with the local German goats. The 

 trade will probabl}^ be extended to France for the improvement more 

 especially of those breeds found in the Central Plateau. 



V. — The area of land under vineyards only amounts to 60 000 acres 

 in Switzerland, yet there are two experimental stations set aside for purely 

 viticultural work. One is the Federal Station at Wadenswil and the other 

 is run by the canton of Vaud at Lattsanne. In other parts of the country 

 special instruction is given in the form of short temporary' courses which 

 the Federal Government contributes to by paying one half the cost. Assist- 

 ance is given by canton and Federal Governements to all cultivators 

 who are willing to take protective measures against diseases such as mil- 

 dew, or to insure themselves against damage by hail. Important subsi- 

 dies are granted too for reconstituting the vineyards (/. e. replacing 

 vines which are either attacked or liable to attack from phylloxera by 

 varieties grafted on resistant American stock) . Cultivators have receiv- 

 ed as much as £ 35 to £ 45 per acre for this purpose, half of which was 



(i) S^e I-iternalional Review of Agricultural Economics, Jan. 1916, pp. 47-56. 



