222 The Agricultural Features of the Paris Exhibition. 
is usually clear light, or " wheat," red ; the head clumsy ; horns 
long and coarse ; neck heavy ; dewlap large ; hair coarse ; skin 
usually thick, but often free and soft ; form of body only middling; 
back hollow ; ribs flat ; flank deficient ; tail-head rough ; loins weak ; 
bone large ; and quality not very good. A few of the females 
had a fair outline and a moderate covering of flesh. One of the 
largest of the cows girthed 6 feet 8J inches. Though lighter in 
colour and rougher in form, their general appearance was not 
unlike that of the Aubrac cattle. They are said to be very 
robust, and it is claimed that the flavour of their beef is excep- 
tionally fine. 
Parthenais and its Branches. — This boasted breed of Poitou 
is considered by its votaries to be pure ; while others maintain 
that it is nothing more than a cross derived from various Swiss 
races. Be that as it may, it is now pretty well defined, and 
deserves many of the good things as well as some of the bad that 
have been said about it. Mr. Richardson says, " carefully-tested 
experiments have shown that, of all the various breeds in France, 
that of Parthenay unites in the highest degree aptitude for work, 
quality of meat, and production of milk ;" and that the " breed 
gives less offal than any other." The Parthenay cattle should be 
excellent workers, and fair milkers ; and the quality of their 
meat, under proper feeding, ought to be good. In quantity, 
however, the meat is deficient, especially on those parts where 
the most valuable beef is found. There are three varieties, the 
Vendeen and Nantais being the more important. Cholet is the 
principal feeding centre of the Parthenay cattle ; and hence in 
Paris these fat cattle are known as Choletais. Despite strenuous 
efforts to maintain the breed in its purity, the Shorthorn cross is 
gradually creeping into its ranks, and producing a substantial 
increase in the yield of beef, but a decrease in their endurance 
at work. In some parts the breed is used mainly for work, and 
in others principally for milk. .The entries numbered 58, the 
majority being of the Nantais variety. The colour is usually 
very light grey ; the head is thick and short, and the frame similar 
to that of the Aubrac race. The bone, however, is finer than 
in that race, the dewlap is less ; but hollow backs are also more 
characteristic of it. As a rule they are high on the leg, and 
bare below. Our note-book says that the first-prize bull in the 
older class had more style than most of the others, but slack 
back, coarse hair, and stifT skin; and that some. of the others 
should be good for work, but little else. The first-prize young 
heifer, of the Vendoen variety, was narrow in the frame, 
wanting in style, and big in the bone. The first-pri^e heifer, 
in the older chiss of tlic Nantais branch, was slim and red-deor- 
like both in colour and form, l)ut had fair quarters, evenly laid 
