SECRETARY'S REPORT. 127 



eyes black and sparkling, but of mild expression. The back is 

 long and straight, the neck long and fine, the dewlap small. 

 The folds of the peringeum are soft and yellowish and marked 

 according to Guenon's system as flandrine. The slioulder is a 

 little fiat. This is essentially a dairy race, though the adapta- 

 tion for beef is evident enough. 



Around Lille, it is apparent that many crosses have been 

 effected with the Dutch bull ; the agricultural society of Valen- 

 ciennes, also, have imported several bulls from North Holland 

 for the purpose, but it is thought by many to be questionable 

 policy to introduce Dutch blood, rather than breed from well- 

 selected animals. The milk of the Flamand is almost as abun- 

 dant, while the quality is richer. It is thought by some that 

 the lymphatic constitution of the Dutch cow makes her a little 

 more liable to certain morbid affections, which do not exist in 

 the Flamands, while she consumes more than the Flamand. 



Many crosses with the Shorthorn have been taken, but lately 

 the preference is given to the Ayrshire cross. The first or 

 Shorthorn cross adds nothing to the already high dairy qualities 

 of the Flamand, the result being chiefly a little more rounded 

 form or slightly greater tendency to fatten, but in neither of 

 these points is this race deficient. The Flamand cow fats easily 

 when not in milk. 



It is pretty well established in France that the dairy cow 

 is the means by which forage crops, all kinds of fodder, in 

 fact, are transformed into human food with the greatest econo- 

 my, and hence their breeds are generally better adapted to the 

 dairy than to the production of beef. Their policy is in some 

 respects the reverse of that of the English breeders, who recog- 

 nize the production of beef as the leading object, and in this 

 line they have met with eminent success. 



The horses on the ground were numerous, and of course 

 attractive, the number of entries being 613, of which most of 

 the animals were exhibited. They consisted of thoroughbreds, 

 Arabians and half-breds, while the English farm horses, the 

 Suffolk, and horses of a similar character bred on the continent 

 were represented by large numbers. An Arabian of Mecklen- 

 burg, twenty-nine years old, took a prize of 200 thalers. He 



