FRANCE. 253 



RACE D' AUBRAC. 



Although I have not so classified it, it seems proper that the race 

 cl' Aubrac, having the fixed characteristics of a distinct race, and although 

 neighbor to the race de Salers and bearing a resemblance to that race, 

 should not be confounded with it. One of the most marked peculiari- 

 ties of this breed consists in its short legs, out of proportion to its long, 

 thick body, characteristic, however, of all the animals of this region, not 

 excepting the human race. The race d ? Aubrac has a good head, fair 

 size, the snout long and large, strong horns, gracefully turned and 

 twisted and of moderate length. 



The d'A librae cow has a handsome velvety coat and flexible skin, 

 the chest large, the back fiat, the bones of the haunches rounded and 

 slightly prominent. The color of the coat is rarely simple, but mixed 

 with clouded tints. The ordinary colors are fawn, hare tint or badger, 

 and soot black, mixed with black and gray. 



The ox of this breed attains its growth very slowly. This is not 

 surprising, considering how those animals in tended exclusively for work 

 are brought up. But this want of precocity does not apply to all of the 

 race, since some magnificent Aubrac cattle evince remarkable precocity. 

 To obtain this condition the animal must be well fed from the time that 

 it is weaned. 



DAIRYING IN AYEYRON. 



The cow of Aubrac, like those of most of the southern breeds, is 

 smaller than the male. It is not a great milker, under favorable cir- 

 cumstances giving but 9 or 10 quarts of milk per day. The cheese- 

 making is nevertheless extensively carried on in these mountainous 

 regions. The cheese is deemed superior to that, of Holland, but will 

 not keep so long, as the whey is more carefully removed from the latter. 



The same establishment of mountain dairies as found in Salers exists 

 in Aveyron. Each dairy of one hundred cows has a head of the cheese- 

 house, to whom $24 is paid ; a boy especially in charge of the calves, 

 at half price; three herdsmen, at $16 each, which makes a total of $84 

 wages for a herd of one hundred cows. The wages are paid at the end 

 of the season, out of the product. These employe's are fed on milk, rye 

 bread, and salt bacon ; this food is estimated at $28. The capital of 

 an establishment of this kind is about $200, besides shifting fences for 

 inclosing the cattle at night, and dairy utensils and cheese on hand, 

 which never exceed $100. The average yield of an Aubrac cow is 140 

 pounds cheese and 7 pounds butter. 



THE AUBRAC MEAT-OX. 



The butcher's stall is the end of the ox of Aubrac, as of all the rest of 

 the oxen in the world, but as a working animal he gives a good profit 

 for his keeping, and it therefore does not detract from his value that he 

 attains his growth slowly. 



THE AUBRAC CROSS-BREEDS. 



With this race, as with that of the Salers, the crossing with other 

 breeds has not improved it, except in regard to precocity, and as the 

 animal more than pays his way, it seems no object to obtain this pre- 

 cocity at the expense of diminishing his usefulness as a worker. 



