HUNGARIAN CATTLE. 41 



summer, and Indian corn straw, with a little barley - 

 straw, and hay, in the winter, are all that he requires ; 

 and no corn or artificial food is added, except for a short 

 time in spring, during the sowing season." The beef 

 of these cattle is of the finest flavour and of the richest 

 quality ; and they have a great tendency to fatten and 

 to lay on meat ; but the chief fault found with them is 

 that they are indifferent milkers. Yet their milking 

 qualities, when cultivated, increase, and many neigh- 

 bouring counties have cattle largely impregnated with 

 the Hungarian blood, which are capital at the pail. 

 What, indeed, can you expect from a semi- wild beast, 

 in which generally, like our own park cattle, whose 

 cousins they are, the cow rears her own calf till Nature 

 stops the supply of milk ? Hear the statement of Pro- 

 fessor Wrightson on this point : — 



" The cows are seldom abundant milkers, but the 

 milk is of rich quality. They milk for eight months, 

 and are dry for four months. The Gulya, or herd, 

 roams on the wooded pastures on the banks of the 

 Danube, or on the extensive plains where the land is 

 still in the condition of pasture. The cows calve from 

 January to July, and hide their offspring for five or six 

 weeks in the woods among bushes, or in some secluded 

 place. The young calf is of dark tawny or fawn colour 

 at first, but gradually changes to a grey creamy colour, 

 and finally to the shaded white peculiar to the race. 

 Each herd is constantly attended — for here there are 

 no fences — by their Gulyas (pronounced Groolyash), or 

 herdsmen. The cows drop their first calf at about four 

 years old. The herds are in the woods and pastures 

 summer and winter, and may be almost spoken of as 

 wild. It is not safe for a stranger to approach them, 



