368 CATTLE AND DAIRY FARMING. 



THE FLEMISH COW. 



The cut below will represent the Flemish cow with tolerable ac- 

 curacy. 



This breed of cows ranks almost equally with the Dutch, even in 

 North Holland, and, in France, Germany, and Switzerland, are esteemed 

 above any English breeds by all those who know cattle. That which 

 this breed lacks in quantity of milk it makes up in quality, and that 

 which it lacks in size for beef is compensated in the same way. These 

 two breeds are as gentle and kind in disposition as it is possible for cat- 

 tle to be. A child can walk up to them anywhere or at any time, and 

 lead them or play around them, without any fear of harm. 



THE FLECHET BREED. 



The Flechet breed is a very remarkable breed of cattle. They are 

 small, as will be seen by the table, and of a red and white color. The 

 products of this breed are better known here than the breed itself. Le 

 leurre de ILerve (butter from Herve) brings in this market from 15 to 20 

 cents more per kilogram than that of any other butter, and milk and 

 cheese from this breed of cattle are equally valuable. I am told that 

 the King of the Belgians sends all the way from Brussels and draws 

 his supply of butter and cheese from the dairymen of Herve. The 

 home demand for the butter and cheese of Herve is greater than the 

 supply at 15 to 20 and even 25 per cent, more per pound than any other 

 cheese or butter, but for all this it finds, its way through intermediaries 

 into Brussels, Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin, Cologne, and Aix la Chapelle 

 for the best restaurants and hotels. This breed of cattle shows perhaps 

 more than any illustration that I could point to that the theory advo- 

 cated by me in this dispatch is a good and rational one, and causes me 

 to advocate it with the more confidence. 



The i'armers of Herve know absolutely nothing about the genealogy 

 of this breed. They only know that the same cattle have grazed on 

 the same pasture during the life of their fathers, or grandfathers, and 

 that they yield good, rich milk, and that they must take good care of 

 them. If you were to talk to them about pedigree you would not be 

 understood ; they have none only that they are good cattle. They are 

 not even known by name, and I have therefore taken it upon myself to 

 name them after Chevalier F. Flechet, the well-known authority on 

 agriculture, who has done and written so much and so ably for the 

 agricultural interest of his section. Through the urbanity of Mr. 

 Flechet I am enabled to send the photographs of this breed. I would 

 take this occasion to offer a word of warning to Americans who may 

 read that which I have said of this breed of cattle, and who may be 

 desirous of possessing them, and that is, to profit here by their English 

 experience, and if they buy do so quietly, so that the price will not be 

 run up on them here as it has been by the shrewd cockney. 



IMPORTS OF BUTTER INTO BELGIUM. 



The percentage of cattle bred for the dairy in Belgium would reach 

 20 per cent. The remainder would go to the butcher and for breeding 

 and draft purposes. Artificial butter is extensively used and man- 

 ufactured iu Belgium and is imported from Holland as well as the gen- 

 uine article. The total importation of butter into this little kingdom 

 amounted to nearly 9,000,000 kilograms for 1881, being, however, more 



