724 CATTLE AND DAIRY FARMING. 



FRENCH LIVE STOCK.* 



[From the London Farmers' Iland-Book. Inclosure O in Consul-General Merritt's report. Ex- 

 pressly translated far the Royal Agricultural Society's Guide, from the official French catalogue 

 of Paris Exhibition.] 



The races of domesticated animals met with in France are numerous and widely dif- 

 ferent, and constitute one of tho principal sources of the agricultural wealth of that 

 country. Subject to the various conditions of climate, soil, system of cultivation, &c., 

 they are distributed as follows, according to the last general census of 1873: 



Calves 1,252,477 



Young bullocks and bulls . 947, 821 



Heifers 1,476,589 



Bulls - 313,081 



Oxen I- 1,792,570 



Cows - 5,938,450 



Total 11,721,818 



The Departments in which the number of stock exceeds 200,000 head are Finistere, 

 Vendee, Loire-Inferieure, Ille-et-Vilaine, Saone-et-Loire, Cotes-du-Nord, Morbihan, 

 Maine-et-Loire, Mayenne, Nord, Calvados, la Manche, Ain, Puy-de-Dome, Seine-In- 

 ferieure, and Cantal. 



Those in which the stock is less than 20,000 head are Vaucluse, Var, Seine, Gard, 

 Herault, Basses- Alpes, Bouches-du-Rhone, Alpes-Mari times, and the jurisdiction of 

 Belfort. 



THE NOEMANDY BEEEDS. 



The Department of Manche, the actual cradle of the Normandy races, constitutes, with 

 that of Calvados, the principal center of production of the stock belonging to the Nor- 

 mandy breeds and their sub-breeds, which latter form a somewhat important item in 

 the supplies furnished for the consumption of Paris. 



The Norman breeds are also kept, though in smaller numbers than in Manche and 

 Calvados, in the Department of the Orne, Eure, Seino-Inferiure, Eure-et-Loir, Seine-et- 

 Oise, Seine-et-Marne, and Seine, whence their heifers are seat up, in competition with 

 Flemish cows, to restock the cow-sheds of Paris and its environs. 



The famous Isigny butter is made from the milk of cows of the Bessine breed, and 

 from that of other Normandy breeds is made Gournay butter, and the choice Cam embert, 

 Livarot, Pont PEveque, and Neufchatel cheeses, as well as the Neufchatel double cream 

 cheese, and the Gournay variety known as Gervais cheese. 



THE FLEMISH BBEED. 



The Flemish breed are pre-eminent as milkers. They are met with in the depart- 

 ments of Nord, Pas-de-Calais, Aisne, and up to the suburbs of Paris, but the principal 

 breeding center is in the arrondissements of Dunquerque and Hazebrouck, especially on 

 the extensive pasture of Bergues, Cassel, and Bailleul, where a judicious selection main- 

 tains the breed in all the plenitude of its best characteristics. 



The Flemish cow is distinguished by a reddish-brown coat, deepening in color towards 

 the head, with a few white marks. The extremities and the natural openings are 

 black. It is of large size and handsome conformation, with a fine skin, a good head, a 

 very straight dorsal line, a large rump, and a fine, well-hung tail. At the same time 

 the chest is wanting in width, and the sides might well be more rounded. 



A good Flemish Bergues cow will produce as much as 2,600 liters of milk a year. 

 The daily yield, after calving, often rises in fact to 25 liters, or in exceptional cases even 

 to 30 liters. 



The males of this breed are slaughtered when quite young, and sold as veal, with the 

 exception of the few reared for breeding purposes. 



THE CHAEOLAISE BEEED. 



The Charolaise breed is the handsomest and the most important in the central depart- 

 ments. Originally coming from Brionnais and Charolaise (the southwest part of the 

 department of Saone-et-Loire), it is now bred throughout the whole Saone-et- Loire, 

 Nievre, and Allier, as well as in certain parts of Cher, Yonne, Cote d'Or, and Haute- 

 Loire. They are good working oxen, and furnish first-rate butchers' meat. 



*The portraits of French cattle which accompanied this inclosure are inserted at page 

 728. 



