SECRETARY'S REPORT. 343 



great expansion. I saw many that would measure, I should 

 think, at least five feet, and possibly six, from tip to tip of the 

 horns. The legs arc long, and they move quickly in walking. 

 They may be said to be very good trotters. They arc used 

 much on the bad roads of the country, and arc accustomed to 

 canter when they come to a pool of water or slough in the road, 

 and as they are hitched or yoked at great length from the cart 

 or wagon, they are on dry land often before the wagon is out of 

 the mud. The general form of the body is fine and graceful, 

 the skin thin, soft to the touch. The color, which is very uni- 

 form, is a kind of whitish gray. The flesh is said to be of veiy 

 good quality. The animal fattens well, and is considered excel- 

 lent for draught, both from its quickness and its steadiness. 



The best Hungarian cows would feed, I should think, to eight 

 or nine hundred pounds, though the average would not be so 

 high. They would vary from six to nine or ten hundred pounds 

 when fat. Though not generally above what we should call a 

 medium size, some of them are very large. The oxen will ordi- 

 narily weigh to ten hundred, and the bulls from eight to nine 

 hundred and fifty. The price is for good store cattle from thirty- 

 five to sixty dollars, varying according to quality. Farrow cows 

 will usually sell for about three cents a pound on what they will 

 weigh when fat, and cows in calf about four cents, that is, if the 

 cow is of sufficient size and thrift to fatten to eight hundred 

 pounds, she would sell at about thirty-two or thirty-five dollars. 



The mode of yoking is one that is rather common in Europe. 

 There is a kind of padded board placed across the forehead, 

 just under the horns, and the traces are fastened to the ends of 

 that. They push the load by the neck, instead of drawing it by 

 the shoulders, as with us. This is claimed in Europe to be the 

 true philosophical mode, and they maintain that it injures the 

 animal less for the butcher, and that he can exert his strength 

 to greater advantage, and travel faster and longer without 

 weariness than under the yoke. They begin to work the ox at 

 about five years old. After working five years, he will fatten 

 off in a very few months. 



The Hungarian cow is not much of a milker, and she does 

 not give that little long. They are seldom milked more than 

 three months after the calf is Aveaned. The milk is said, 

 however, to be very rich. Tiiese cattle are bred in immense 



