THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 41 



Their contour is very good : the head is short and broad, the 

 horns white, thick, short, and round, the tail high-set, the 

 hair thick ; the skin is thick, the colour is black or brown, 

 mixed with white, the head being often entirely of the latter 

 colour. These oxen readily accumulate an abundance of fat, 

 which is, in general, of a slight yellow tinge. 



Coming from a good stock, and more care being taken in 

 the breeding of this race than is usual in France, the ox of 

 the Pays d'Auge is superior to most others. The breed was 

 originally introduced about fifty years since, by M. de la 

 Eoque, a stock feeder, who obtained it in Holland ; and from 

 the selections made in the choice of individuals destined for 

 breeding, it maintains all its original excellencies, which are 

 in full perfection at the seventh or eighth year. Many oxen, 

 however, are sold for slaughter at the age of three or four 

 years ; but some are kept for three or four years to labour, 

 and are then fattened. 



In the district of Cotentin, in Normandy, there is a breed 

 of considerable size, with a long head and long slender horns, 

 and having the back ridged, the thighs lank, the limbs 

 slender, the body voluminous, and the skin thin. The colour 

 is blackish brown. 



Between this old, coarse breed, and the Holland of the Pays 

 d'Auge, has resulted a mixed race, which often attains to a very 

 large size, with the limbs stouter, and in better proportion, 

 and with a general increase in bone as well as flesh. This breed 

 is usually mottled, red and white, and it is almost the only one 

 bred in Normandy pastures, and there also fed. The original 

 cattle of Franche Comte are very small, and of little value ; 

 the horns are often crumpled, and the general colour is blond 

 or brown. There is, however, an improved breed in Franche 

 Comte, which supplies the cattle feeders in the arrondissement 

 of Avesnes. 



In the Pays de Carmague, at the embouchure of the Bhone, 

 a wild savage breed exists, less remarkable for stature than for 

 strength and solidity of contour. The body is stout and 

 robust, the belly extremely voluminous ; the horns short, and 

 so arched as to form a perfect crescent ; the skin is thick, and 

 covered with black hair. 



These cattle, which inhabit the islands of Carmague, in the 

 mouth of the Rhone, a little below Aries, are in a semi- 

 domesticated condition, and are noted for their strength and 

 ferocity. They are said to have been brought originally from 



