21 6 DOMESTIC BREEDS. 



black and white, or black and red, considered by M. 

 Desmarest as the finest breed in France, introduced 

 from Holland, and used for tillage. Another large 

 breed, B. uneliensis, when crossed with the last, 

 reaches a weight of 1300 or 1400 lb., and is con- 

 sidered the largest in France. B. Helvetians is one 

 of the Swiss races, celebrated for the quantity of 

 their milk, and B. Batavius is the ordinaiy Dutch 

 breed, celebrated for a similar good quality Den- 

 mark possesses a breed also remarkable br milk, 

 and in Spain and Italy the breeds have a fine appear- 

 ance from their very large size, their peculia^ dull 

 grey colour, and their immense horns diverging la- 

 terally. We are not, however, so well inforned as 

 to their other qualifications. 



In Britain the catalogue of varieties is even greater. 

 At the earlier periods of its history grazing wasfrmcb 

 more prevalent in proportion than in the pesent 

 time, and from the times of the ancient Britajis to 

 that of the border forays, the carcasses of the beves 

 were a regular item in the winter's larder. These, 

 perhaps, might be taken from any stock withou the 

 true calculation of the quantity of meat a given ime 

 and feeding would produce, but they were, ne^er- 

 theless, well fed on the natural pastures, and w<uld 

 be perhaps even more acceptable to the accomplsh- 

 ed epicure in beef. With the march of cultivaton, 

 came the necessity of attending to the varieties wfch 

 were most easily reared, and when the pasture laids 

 began to yield so great a return by crops of grain it 



