286 CATTLE AND DAIRY FARMING. 



from Paris and other places at a distance. Butter for table use is 

 brought from Normandy and other places, while the little which is made 

 in this vicinity is fit only for cooking purposes. 



Milk is largely brought to this market by rail from out-lying districts, 

 that which is produced in the vicinity of Eheims being of an inferior 

 quality. 



JOHN L. FBISBIE, 



Consul. 

 UNITED STATES CONSULATE, 



Eheims, France, October IS, 1883. 



CATTLE IN TEE DISTRICT OF NICE. 



. REPORT BY VICE-CONSUL VIAL. 



The ordinary breed, Taurus, is the single one to be found in the dis- 

 trict of Nice. Neither beeves nor bulls are bred or fed in this part of 

 France ; cows alone receive the best care in the dairy for milk purposes, 

 inasmuch as the milk- is the chief food of a great many foreigners com- 

 ing here during the winter. The beeves arriving in this town from 

 Piedmont (Italy) are all reserved for the butcher. The best cow, the 

 preferred, is called " Bergamase." This name refers to the town from 

 which it is drawn, viz, Bergarnus (Italy). It is a very stark cow, thick- 

 set, dark chestnut, fine-haired, 4 feet high, always hollow-backed, with 

 two large veins near the paps, one on each flank 5 giving an average daily 

 quantity of 3 or 4 gallons of excellent milk. When wanting cows, the milk- 

 men of Nice get the Bergamases from Lombardy (Mouza, Milan, Berga- 

 mus), and they choose them in the third year of their age, having just had 

 their first calf or being still in calf. As Nice is surrounded by hills and 

 as there are no large plains or meadows the plow is quite useless, and 

 consequently no labor is required from oxen or cows. The best milk- 

 men estimate that there are from 2,000 to 2,500 cows in the district of 

 Nice. When bought in Lombardy a cow costs $80 to $90, but its trans- 

 portation to Nice raises this cost to $85 or $95. Cows are conveyed 

 hither by railway express, in wagons containing seven or eight. Six 

 gallons of water and 18 pounds hay are their daily food in a journey of 

 eighteen hours. The same ratio of food would be sufficient for the pas 

 sage across the Atlantic, provided they be kept in appropriate stalls, G 

 feet wide, 6 feet high, and 9 feet long. The daily food of a dairy cow 

 is estimated at 44 cents. 



No exportation takes place from Nice ; the cattle crossing over this 

 country is directed to a few small towns of the department of the Alpes 

 Maritimes. They are generally driven on foot, unless long distances 

 require railway express. From time to time Nice receives beeves for 

 butchery either from Sardinia or from Algeria (Africa), but in small quan- 

 tity and only when the importations from Italy become very scarce. 

 Such animals give, Uowever, but a middling quality of meat which can 

 hardly be sold on the market, where the Piedmont cattle meat is always 

 preferred. 



A. VIAL, 

 Vice- Consul. 



UNITED STATES CONSULATE, Nice, October 16, 1883. 



