No. 4.] DAIRYING EN FRANCE. 129 



ducers of large quantities of rich milk. These cattle justly 

 won the sweepstakes prize for dairy animals at the Paris 

 Exposition stock show. But it is said they always dete- 

 riorate rapidly when moved from the comparatively small 

 district in which they had their origin or development, and 

 this accounts for the breed being so little known elsewhere. 



To find other interesting dairy districts in France one must 

 therefore travel again to the south, and fully half way from 

 Paris to the Mediterranean Sea. This brings one into the 

 old province of Auvergne, that very beautiful mountainous 

 district which covers the present departments of Puy-de- 

 Dome and Cantal. It is an elevated territory, near the 

 centre of the country, with the great valleys of the rivers 

 Gironde and Rhone on either side. It is a favorite region 

 with tourists and with those who enjoy mountain air and 

 mineral water. The attractions are picturesque hills and 

 valleys, quaint towns and old castles, peaks like Mont Dore 

 and Puy-de-Dome (with its twenty-five famous springs), 

 and numerous health resorts, among which is Vichy, and its 

 immense hot springs, whose waters are known the world 

 over. The dairying is influenced by the topography of the 

 country and the comparatively scattered population. Aside 

 from supplying local wants, the chief dairy product is 

 cheese, and this is one of the only two parts of France in 

 which a large cheese is made. This kind is called the Can- 

 tal ; in shape it is like a cask, or an English chcddar, often 

 2 feet high and 18 inches in greatest diameter. It is solid, 

 well pressed, but the curd is not cooked and the body is soft 

 and white, like an uncured cheddar. The exterior of these 

 cheese is dressed so as to have a white, chalky appearance ; 

 they weigh from 60 to 100 pounds, and are regarded as of 

 second quality in the Paris markets. 



Passing still farther south, the department of Aveyron is 

 reached. Here the country is still more mountainous, and 

 very rough, rock}% bleak and unattractive. The high ridges 

 are almost destitute of trees, and but poorly covered with 

 verdure ; the valleys arc deep, narrow and sparsely settled. 

 Miles can be travelled without seeing a human habitation. 

 Yet all this apparently remote and unfrequented region is 



