Report on the Dairy-Farming of tlie North-west of France. 285 
experiment of crossing his breed with the Shorthorn. Tradi- 
tion, which is more remembered than history, tells him that the 
Shorthorn is a gluttonous fat-making machine, suitable only 
to produce gross meat for the English market, at a great ex- 
penditure in artificial food. Official reporters, like M. Le- 
febvre de Sainte Marie, Inspector-General of Agriculture, and 
winners of the Government Prizes of Honour, may give a dif- 
ferent version of their experience, but they have hitherto had 
little or no effect upon the ordinary farmer. Many of the large 
proprietors, and some even of the larger farmers, use a Nor- 
man-Shorthorn bull, and frequently one sees cows which, in the 
shape of their horns, the colour of their nose, and an approach 
to squareness of form, give the idea that a little infusion of 
Shorthorn blood runs in their veins. 
On farms where Camembert and other soft cheeses are made, 
it is preferred to have the calves drop in September, as between 
that date and the end of April the best prices are made for such 
descriptions of cheese, all of which are more or less difficult 
to transport in the middle of summer. On butter-making farms, 
on the other hand, spring-born calves are preferred, April being 
the favourite month. French butter is at its worst in the winter, 
especially in the grass-land districts, while Camembert cheese 
is then at its best. The calves on dairy farms are not allowed 
to suck their dams, but they get for the first few days a fair 
allowance of the milk, if it is intended to rear them ; and after- 
wards they are brought up chiefly on skim-milk, which has 
been gradually more and more denuded of cream. With the 
exception of bran, additional food is rarely given. In some 
districts the calves are not only rei.ied, but are fattened for the 
Paris market on a forcing system, so that, owing to the high 
price of veal in Paris and the cheapness of lean cows in the 
country, a well-fattened calf of three to four months old is not 
unfrequently worth nearly as much as a lean old cow. The 
price of fat calves varies from 6fc?. to 9f/. per lb., live-weight, 
according to the season, so that a fat calf weighing cwt. 
would be worth from four to six guineas. 
With regard to the summer-fattening of oxen on the pastures 
of Normandy at the present day I cannot do better than give the 
following translated extract from M. de Sainte Marie's notice 
of the Department of Calvados * : — 
The best pastures are those which rest on a somewhat light soil, which is 
not wanting, however, in tenacity. Then the grass is bushy, tender, and 
nutritive, and the vegetation is always active if the soil is fertile. Prolonged 
droughts need not then be feared, since the more fertile the soil, the more it 
* ' Les Primes d'Houucur, &c., de'ceruc's dans los Coucours Ke'giouaux cn 18G7.' 
