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CHAPTER III. 



CATTLE. 



THE superiority of British husbandry to ours is not 

 quite so great in cattle as it is in sheep. There is still, 

 however, a sensible difference. 



The number of horned cattle possessed by France is 

 reckoned at ten million head. The United Kingdom feeds 

 somewhat less, say about eight million ; but if the actual 

 number be less, the proportionate quantity is not so. 

 Of this number England and Wales count five million 

 head, Scotland one million, and Ireland two million ; 

 that is, England has one head for every three hectares, 

 Scotland one to eight hectares, and Ireland one to four. 

 Thus the average of France is in reality superior only to 

 Scotland ; and then it is her soil which causes the excep- 

 tion. We are even below Ireland, and a long way below 

 England. So much for numbers ; in quality our inferi- 

 ority is greater. 



There are three descriptions of produce which man 

 may demand from cattle, besides the manure, the hide, 

 and the offal namely, their labour, their milk, and their 

 flesh. Of these three the least profitable is the first ; and 

 we here again find a distinction quite analogous to that 

 winch we observed in respect to sheep ; for while the French 

 agriculturist requires labour from his cattle, in preference 

 to everything else, the British agriculturist looks chiefly 



