384 CATTLE AND DAIRY FARMING. 



SPAIN. 



CATTLE UST AHDALUSIA 



REPOBT BY CONSUL OPPENHEIM, OF CADIZ. 



In pursuance of instructions given in Department circular of July 18, 

 1883, 1 transmit herewith certain tables bearing upon the grazing inter- 

 est in this district. Stock-breeding, properly so-called, meaning thereby 

 the improvement of cattle on a large scale by selection and crossing, 

 may be said not to exist here. Individual experiments of crossing for- 

 eign cattle with the native breed have occasionally been made, but the 

 results are said not to have been encouraging. Some years ago English 

 Shorthorn cows were imported into the district of Jerez and crossed 

 with the native bulls, but the experiment was unsuccessful, the breed 

 deteriorating rapidly and tending to revert to the original native type. 

 In the. district of Puerto do Sta. Maria, there are now some cross-breeds, 

 produced by crossing Swiss and native cattle (native bull and Swiss 

 cows); the milk product of the cross-breed cow is much superior to that 

 of the native, both in richness and in quantity, but the animals lose 

 their hardiness, do not stand the heat well, and require shelter and arti- 

 ficial feeding almost the whole year round. These experiments, and 

 probably many other similar ones unknown to me, have created an im- 

 pression that the native stock of this district does not lend itself readily 

 to improvement by crossing. The interest of this inquiry to our dairy- 

 men and cattle-breeders must further be lessened by the patent fact 

 that the Andalusian cattle, outside of a good appearance and endurance 

 of heat, do not seem to have any prominent points of excellence. They 

 are not good milkers, and produce beef which, at its best, is ooly medi- 

 ocre. On the other hand they are very cheaply kept, requiring hardly 

 any shelter or care of any kind. That American breeders should import 

 Andalusian stock is only conceivable in the somewhat remote contin- 

 gency of our people developing a taste for bull-fighting. The fierceness 

 and the mettle of the Andalusian bull are indisputable, and these traits 

 are sufficiently developed even in some of the cows to make them some- 

 what undesirable as inmates of a dairy. Whilst the above considera- 

 tions undoubtedly detract from the practical value of this inquiry to 

 our stock-breeders, yet many interesting facts and data bearing upon 

 the meteorology, the topography, the flora, as well as on the economical 

 situation of this district may be included within its frame-work. Such 

 of these data as are contained in the accompanying tables have been 

 gathered in every case from the best available sources, and as far as 

 they go are undoubtedlv trustworthy. 



ERNEST L. OPPENHEIM, 



Consul, 



UNITED STATES CONSULATE, 



Cadiz, October 25, 1884. 



