4:0 THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 



Pays de Eetz, and over a great part of Bretagne and Anjou, 

 and especially along the borders of the Loire, from Angers to 

 Normandy. There is, about Nantes, a smaller breed also, 

 with a finer head ; the oxen are much employed in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Eennes and Fougeres, and are ultimately sent to 

 the pastures of Normandy. 



In the marais, or low district, along the coast between 

 Machecoul and Eochefort, several breeds of cattle appear to 

 be reared and fed, the oxen being used for labour. Of these 

 the largest breed often weighs 900 or 1000 Ibs. ; the contour 

 is not first-rate : the head is long, the horns large, the skin 

 thick, the tallow abundant and oily. This is the ox of the 

 marais, to the north of Lucon. 



The ox of Fontenay is smaller and more common ; it is 

 reared in the large marais between Lu9on and Eochefort. 



At Aunis, Poitou, and in the marais of La Charente, a 

 Flanders breed of ox prevails, originally from the Netherlands, 

 or Holland. It is of tall stature, long in the body, and high 

 in the limbs, with the volume of the trunk diminished : the 

 head is long, the horns very large, the skin dense. The cows 

 are always meagre, but give a great quantity of milk. 



Besides these, there is a mixed breed, resulting from cross- 

 ing the Flanders stock with the others. 



In Basse-Bretagne there is a very diminutive breed of cattle, 

 with a fine head and slender limbs ; the horns are very long, 

 and black at the tip. The colour is red and white, or block 

 and white. It is fed in Basse-Bretagne, chiefly for ship pro- 

 visions, though a few, fattened in the pastures of Normandy, 

 find their way to the Paris markets. 



An excellent breed of middle-sized cattle prevails in Maine. 



The oxen weigh about seven hundred pounds. The head 

 and neck are fine, the horns short and white, the dewlap is 

 almost wanting, the haunch is flat, the tail high set, the colour 

 white and red. This breed is noted for gentleness of disposi- 

 tion, and is both widely spread and much esteemed. The ox 

 is worked to the age of six or seven years, and then sent to 

 the pastures of Normandy. This breed has been crossed by 

 one from Holland ; and the mixed stock, of superior size, were 

 first bred by M. Boreau de la Besnardiere, of Angers, who 

 introduced some bulls from that country. 



In the Pays d'Auge, a breed of cattle, originally from Hol- 

 land, prevails. The oxen of this breed are of large size, 

 usually weighing one thousand or twelve hundred pounds 



