326 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



most commonly seen are larger and coarser, generally white, 

 with very little wool, and that of no great value. From Lom- 

 bardy, the neighborhood of Brescia, and the southern parts of 

 the valleys of the Ticino, a large, high-legged animal, is driven 

 to be summered in the Alps, called the Bergamesque breed. 

 They have a large dewlap hanging from the throat often to the 

 chest, and long hanging ears. They go to the mountains in 

 great flocks as soon as the snow is melted, browsing by the way 

 as they move along. A shepherd usually goes on ahead to 

 make arrangements to pasture the flocks for the summer. 



The flock-masters that come up from the Milanese and the 

 lower Tessin have to pay a toll at the several communes as 

 they pass, as a sort of offset for what the sheep eat on the way. 

 This has got to be, in some sections, a rather heavy tax upon 

 them. The right of pasturage, they pay for to the canton or 

 commune in which their sheep-walks lie, usually to the Orisons. 

 The dogs that accompany these flocks are faithful and exceed- 

 ingly well trained, so much so that they can be trusted very 

 largely with the care of the flock. Tlieir fare is so limited, con- 

 sisting mainly of bran and whey, and their life is one of such 

 activity, that they are thin and lank enough. They look as if 

 their life was one of all work and no play. Like that of the 

 sheep they tend and the shepherd they work for, it is one of 

 hardship and deprivation. If the weather is warm when these 

 migrations take place, they travel only by night, but in the 

 autumn, in returning from the mountains, it is generally cold, 

 and then they travel only by day. In this way between thirty 

 and forty thousand Bergamesque sheep migrate each year. 



When they get to the pastures the flock is divided, and a part 

 is taken to its own district to graze, another to another district, 

 and so on ; dividing usually into four flocks, each having its 

 own shepherd with his dogs. Sometimes they occupy the same 

 hut, if not too far off, but usually each has his separate hut or 

 chalet. Many thousands of these chalets are seen on the high 

 mountain ranges, whicli are used only in summer. Many of 

 them are no more than sheds or barns where they store the hay 

 that is made, but those on the highest ranges are used for the 

 shepherds and goatherds, and have a kitchen, a sleeping-room, 

 and a room for the dairy utensils and the products of the dairy. 

 Morning and evening the food of these frugal shepherds is hasty 



