328 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



Franche Compte, Pokou, and Burgundy, are 

 most celebrated lor their breed ol' horses. Nor- 

 mandy lia& long been noted for its horses. It is 

 said tiiat William I. won the decisive battle ol' 

 Hastings, by the superiority of his cavalry which 

 he brought over vviih him. The Norman horses 

 are in general low and thick, and very steady, sure, 

 and strong. They will make a stage ol" bO miles 

 without alaait, and eat the coarsest Ibod. They, 

 as well as the horse in other parts of France, and 

 also the cattle, are accustomed to ieed about the 

 lanes, and in the common fields, alter the corn 

 is carried off. The best saddle horses are those ol 

 Limosin. They are seldom fit lor riding till they 

 are six or seven years old ; but then they are very 

 useful, and last along time. This breed has been 

 lately much improved, by crossing it with the 

 Arabian, Turkish, and English. Auvergne pro- 

 duces some good hacks lor common use. A 

 great many fouls are reared in Brittany, which 

 are sent to the pastures of Normandy. A great 

 many horses are also bred in Franche Compte, 

 especially m the hilly part of the country. One 

 year with another, their studs produce upwards of 

 5000 colts, most of which are bought, when six 

 months or a year old, by the horse dealers in 

 Champagne, Burgundy, Brie, and Berry. The 

 trade in horses is consequently an object of some 

 importance and value in Franche Compte. In 

 different parts of the kingdom, there have long 

 been Haras, or depots de chevaux, lor the supply of 

 the royal studs ; and Bonaparte, sensible that ca- 

 valry is one of the main smews of war, paid par- 

 ticular attention to the breed and supply of horses ; 

 but, as in many other things that he undertook, 

 his plans were not calculated to produce the object 

 he had in view, in consequence of the impatience, 

 obstinacy, and tyranny ol his disposition. On the 

 whole, therelbre, the breed of horses, and proba- 

 bly the number, are not equal to what tliey were 

 previously to the revolution. In the year 1802, 

 the total immber was, of plough horses 1,500,000; 

 horses kept at Paris 35,100; in all other towns 

 200,000 ; in the armies 100,000 : making in all 

 1,835,100. With the respect to the number as- 

 signed lor agricultural purposes, it may appear 

 high, when we consider, that oxen are very much 

 used not only in the plough, but in carts ; and 

 that where horses are employed in the plough, 

 there are seldom more yoked than two. The 

 number of horses in Paris is singularly small. 

 Between 1802 and 1812, the number of horses, at 

 least of those bred in the government studs, was 

 probably much increased ; but during the Russian 

 campaign, in a kw months of 1812 and 1813, the 

 loss, according to the expose of the year 1814, 

 amounted to 230,000 horses, which it is staled, 

 could not be replaced at a less expense than 

 105,200,000 francs. The price of farm horses in 

 the northern districts of France is about 17/. ster- 

 ling. 



Mules are much employed in the middle and 

 south of France, especially in the latter, lor tread- 

 ino' out the com. Arijou carries on a particular 

 trade for these animals, known by the name of 

 Mirebalais. In the department of Aveiron, espe- 

 cially in the vicinity of Rliodez, the principal town, 

 they Itii.'d a vast number of mules, in which the in- 

 habitants carry on a considerable trade; for it is 

 said that during the two lairs that are kept yearly 

 at Rhodcz, this trade brings in above 300,000 



crowns. The breed of mules in Poitou, is parti- 

 cularly celebrated Ibr their size and strength, and 

 is in great demand all over France. 



The provinces in which oxen and cows are prin- 

 cipally bred or fiittened, are Perche, Champagne, 

 Lorraine, Alsace, Hainault, Flanders, Normandy, 

 Brittany, La Maine, Anjou, Poitou, Berry, Niver- 

 nois, Burgundy, Limosin, Auvergne, Bresse, 

 Languedoc, and Dauphiny. The prevalent color 

 of the cattle in France, Irom Calais to the Pyre- 

 nees, is a pale reddish, or rather a cream color. 

 This is decidedly the color of the cattle of the Limo- 

 sin, which are an excellent breed, probably the 

 best in France. From this district, numbers of 

 fine oxen, liittened in winter, are sent to the Paris 

 market, which is also supplied by those fatten- 

 ed in Normandy during summer. The cattle of 

 the Limosin have short legs, strait and flat backs, 

 well arched ribs, deep and heavy carcasses, and 

 iheir weight from (50 to 80 stone, 14 lbs. to the 

 stone. The most singular circumstance respecting 

 them is, that they should be in excellent onditioii 

 in the month of May, the season when they are 

 usually driven Irom Limoges to the Paris market, 

 as at this time of the year there is in most coun- 

 tries a scarcity of fat cattle, when they have not 

 been fattened on spring grass ; and any grass 

 which they could have in a climate not very dif- 

 ferent irom ihat of the south of England, could 

 have but a small share in bringing them to the 

 condition in which they reach Paris. The me- 

 thod by which they are brought into this condi- 

 tion is very extraordinary : they are put on grass 

 till the beginning of November; then on raves or 

 turnips. When the turnips lail, they give them 

 rye-tlour, prepared in a peculiar manner: the 

 hour IS mixed with water, so as to make a paste, 

 which is suffered to stand till it ferments. In some 

 instances the liermentation is promoted and acce- 

 lerated by the aduiiion of leaven. This rye-paste 

 is never given to the oxen till it becomes sour. 

 At first they refuse it ; but when they take to it, 

 they preliir this acid lood to any other. A large 

 ox will eat in this manner about 22 lbs. of the 

 paste a-day : it is given thrice a-day. The oil- 

 cake of walnuts is also given to oxen in the Li- 

 mosin, with the greatest success. In some parts 

 of this district, boiled potatoes and chestnuts are 

 given ; in other parts, boiled maize rendered ten- 

 der by pouring builmg water upon it. 



In other parts of France, oxen are led on leaves. 

 This seems to have been an established custom in 

 the time of Henry IV., as it is particularly men- 

 tioned by Oliver de Serres, who wrote, under the 

 auspices of that monarch, the Theatre d^jjgricul- 

 ture. The practice was lormerly usual in Eng- 

 land also, in time of Henry VIll., and even so 

 late as the reign of Charles II., as appears from 

 Evelyn. The leaves used in France are princi- 

 pally those of the beech. They are gathered 

 when on the point of falling, or immediately after 

 they have fallen, and are preserved as dry as pos- 

 sible by being covered vvitfi straw. The manage- 

 ment of this mode of keeping cattle is best under- 

 stood in Franche Compie and Auvergne. 



Where ihe Rhone divides between Tarascon 

 and Aries, an island or delta is Ibnned, called 

 Camargue. This island is nearly an equilateral 

 triangle of about seven leagues each way. It 

 was Tormerly covered with wood, but has Ibr a 

 great many years been cleared, and covered with 



