SWITZEKLAND. 321 



CATTLE IN THE COIISULAB DISTEICT OF GENEVA. 



REPORT BY CONSUL ADAMS. 



I have collected the. following information in reply to the cattle 

 circular of July 18, and the memoranda added August 25. 



Cattle census. According to the Swiss cattle census taken in 1876, the 

 number of cattle in this district was 193,404, distributed as follows : 



Geneva 6,949 



Tessin 44,188 



Valais 65,024 



Vaud 77,243 



From 1866 to 1876 there was an increase for all Switzerland from a 

 total of 008,291 head to 1,035,850 head, which is supposed to have been 

 maintained at the same rate since, owing to the rise in values and en- 

 couragement given by the local governments. 



Breeds. The different breeds are so intermingled that it is impossible 

 to give the percentage of each, or the percentage bred for the dairv and 

 the butcher. Tessin alone has a distinct and uniform breed, known by 

 its brown and even color. 



ME AT- CATTLE IMPORTS. 



In the four cantons named, constituting this district, cattle are only 

 fattened for the butcher when they cease to serve for the dairy and re- 

 production. The supply being unequal to the consumption, there is no 

 exportation save of choice individuals pure bred, but a large importa- 

 tion of cows and oxen from Baden and Austria and of beeves for the 

 butcher from Italy. Nothing comes from the United States, whether 

 cattle or products of the dairy. 



American butter and cheese for Switzerland. A suggestion made in 

 one of my previous reports that American butter and cheese would 

 find a ready sale here if put upon the market at certain prices was rather 

 ridiculed by the Swiss press, but was certainly true, and*perhaps is 

 worth renewing, for Swiss butter is not of the best or the cheapest, and 

 the cheese eaten by the people is bad. 



American preserved meats. Preserved American meats are already 

 sold here in large quantities. Live cattle and fresh meat must wait for 

 better communications with the seaboard. The tunneling of the Alps, 

 and the new lines of through traffic north and south and east and west, 

 are likely to make of Switzerland a great international entrepot and 

 to change all the conditions of the market, 



RESULTS OF BREEDING FROM IMPORTED CATTLE. 



The cattle imported into Switzerland are never bred pure, and soon 

 disappear as distinct breeds on crossing with the native breeds. These 

 are of uncertain origin, and perhaps of high antiquity 5 at any rate 

 must be treated as practically indigenous. No comparison can be made 

 with their character and condition in their native countries, nor can one 

 say what has been the effect on the breed by domestication here. Nor 

 have I any information as to the extent and effect of their introduction 

 into other countries. Whether they would produce in the United States 

 H. Ex. 51 21 



