CHAP. ii. FOREIGN BREEDS OF CATTLE. 81 



Large numbers of cattle were formerly imported annually from 

 Holland, and from the rich pasture fields stretching along the sand- 

 dune-protected margin of the North Sea from that country almost up 

 to Calais. The Dutch cows are celebrated for their milking capa- 

 bilities ; but the milk, though abundant, is poor, and often contains less 

 than 3 per cent, of fat. They are generally black and white in colour, 

 often black, with a white " blanket " round the barrel. They are 

 closely allied to, if not the same breed as, the Normandy. While the 

 cows yield large supplies of milk, the cattle fatten rapidly and attain a 

 moderate weight. They are at maturity when about four } r ears old. 



Extending our observations so as to take in the regions farther 

 north, we come to that part of what is now Prussia, but which, 

 formerly belonging to Denmark, was so well known as the Duchy of 

 Schleswig-Holstein. Of this the low-lying but splendidly rich and 

 fertile tracts of land which border the seas, the Baltic on the northern, 

 the North Sea on the southern side, are, so to say, crowded with vast 

 herds of cattle of various breeds, some of which are distinct, others 

 more or less allied to one another. Looking down from the elevated 

 roads which run along the tops of the embankments which keep out 

 the sea in some districts the only point which rises above the 

 universal level it is difficult to conceive how the land can support 

 such numbers. The secret of this is of course the amazing richness 

 of the soil, which raises crops of the finest grass. 



CHAPTER II. 



COMPARATIVE VIEW OF THE DIFFERENT BREEDS OF CATTLE. 



FROM the foregoing introductory view of the various races of 

 neat cattle, the reader will probably be enabled to form some 

 estimate of the value of the respective breeds therein described. The 

 three which are chiefly reared are the short-horn, the long-horn, and 

 the middle-horn breeds, and concerning their merits and demerits 

 there has always been a difference of opinion among the most 

 experienced breeders. There are also the hornless breeds, which of 

 late years have successfully worked their way into the regard of practical 

 men in various countries. These polled cattle are not by any means 

 found in the British Islands only, for there are breeds of them in 

 Eastern Europe ; and Professor Sheldon was much interested to find 

 near the City of Mexico, in the spring of 1890, large herds of polled 

 cattle, which were kept for the milk supply of the city, were evidently 

 good milkers, and had various colours of skin. 



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