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THE FRENCH DAIRY INDUSTRY. 



The number of milch cows in France was found at the 

 time of the Decennial Agricultural Inquiry in 1892 to be 

 5,407,126, compared with 5,019,670 in 1882 — an increase of 

 387,456, or nearly 8 per cent. Inasmuch as the increase in 

 all cattle, during" the same period, was from 12,997,054 to 

 13,708,997 yiiyg4^y or about 5^ per cent.), and the 



increase in cattle other than milch cows was little more 

 than 4 per cent., it w^ould appear that more attention has 

 been devoted to dairying than to the maintenance of cattle 

 for other purposes during these ten years. Bulls and draught 

 oxen have declined, but the number of bullocks being fattened 

 exhibits an increase. 



The north of France is, as is well known, the principal 

 seat of the dairying industry, and it is here that the greatest 

 number of milch cows are to be found ; the departments with 

 the largest number being, in the order named, Ille-et-Vilaine, 

 Finistere, C6tes-du-Nord, Morbihan, Nord, Puy-de-D6me, 

 Loire-inferieure, Seine-inferieure, and Manche. Of these 

 only the Puy-de-D6me can rank as a southern department. 

 If we reckon the number of (ail) cattle in proportion to the 

 agricultural surface, we find that the department of Finistere 

 carries nearly 26 head to every 100 acres, followed by 

 the Morbihan, Vendee, Manche, Mayenne, Ille-et-Vilaine, 

 Nord, etc. The preponderance of the Breton departments in 

 these comparisons will not escape notice, but it is due to the 

 small size of the Breton cattle, of which it is said that ten 

 cows of this breed can be kept where it would be difficult to 

 support three Norman beasts. In fact, if we compare the 

 "vj eight of cattle per 100 acres^ we find that the Norman 

 departments, with the Seine (which, as it consists almost 

 entirely of Paris and its suburbs, naturally contains but 



