iJ44 CATTLE AND DAIRY FARMING. 



The pastures are excellent for air, topography, and herbage. The 

 breed of cattle, not native, but a long-domesticated race of Tyrolese and 

 Swiss, the cows of the district being Swiss and the best milkers in this 

 part of Italy, the lowland cattle, an old stock crossed and recrossed 

 with Tyrolese till the race has become general throughout all the 

 northern part of the province. They are strong, thick-set animals, with 

 small horns, short, thick neck, and muscular limbs ; enduring, but slow 

 and heavy in their movements; the coat whitish or light gray. The 

 Swiss cows are much lower in stature, a darker gray in color, or spotted 

 black and red according to their origin ; not more than 4Jfeet in height, 

 with delicate limbs and voluminous dugs. Along with these domesti- 

 cated Swiss cattle are numbers of more recent introduction belonging 

 principally to the district of Vicenza, and modified from their primitive 

 type by long residence there. Of a peculiar breed from the Val Ken- 

 dana, where they are bred expressly for milking, they are known here 

 as the cow of Schwytz. With a soft and pliable skin they have a coat 

 spotted with brown and black; around the eyes, inside the ear, the line 

 of the back, and the dugs, white ; with the hinder part larger and heavier 

 than the shoulders, and a height little over four feet; light-boned, with 

 a small head and short horns. These cows have an extraordinary milk- 

 ing capacity, but very variable with the quality of their forage. In 

 Switzerland they are said to give as much as 27 liters, or 7 gallons, per 

 day. Here the same animal gives only 5 ; and her descendants 2 to 2J 

 at most. 



Of these and the migratory herds from below, some 10,000 cattle are 

 collected here during the summer months, of which 5,500 belong to the 

 district, with 1,500 calves. They are guarded by the proprietor or ten- 

 ant of the lajid, who undertakes their keeping either for a rate in 

 money or a share in the products of a dairy attached to the pasture, 

 which makes a part of the speculation. The milk of the herd is col- 

 lected here twice a day, and being operate.! on in the best conditions 

 of freshness and temperature, gives a large yield of butter and cheese 

 much esteemed in the neighboring provinces. Ordinarily the price of 

 pasturage, when taken in kind, is one-half of the milk and product; 

 for cows without milk, 85 to $0, according to abundance and quality of 

 forage. The yield of milk varies with the state of the pasture and of 

 the animal, better and more abundant at the outset with grass un- 

 cropped and diminishing as the season advances. Averaging this dif- 

 ference, an ordinary cow is supposed to give 4 to 4J liters of milk per 

 day. 



BUTTER AND CHEESE MAKING IN VICENZA.. 



In 107 of these mountain dairies are made three kinds of cheese. 

 For the " Grasso dafrutta" the milk is used unskimmed and entire, and 

 in the early season produces 33 pounds to the hundred liters=26 gal- 

 lons ; later, 20-22. In one of these pastures, celebrated for the quality 

 of its products, a small portion of butter must be removed, the exces- 

 sive richness of the milk making the cheese difficult to keep. After 

 this the u pecorino " half cream and the " magro," of skimmed milk, 

 are made for the use of the neighborhood. Of "magro" a hundred 

 liters of milk give about 22 pounds; each pound of butter taken from 

 the milk lessens the yield of cheese by 2 pounds. 



In full season the same quantity of milk gives 9J pounds of butter, 

 more or less, according to the quality of forage. The methods of fabrica- 

 tion are those of the farm-house, without a thermometer or other rational 

 instrument, depending entirely on the tact and experience of the dairy- 



