1875 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
93 
Breton Cattle. 
There is no race that more clearly shows the 
effects of local surroundings upon breeding, than 
■do the Brittany cattle. Brittany is a province of 
western France, a region of granite hills, and bleak 
moors, covered with heather and broom, amongst 
which here and there are narrow tracts of poor 
arable and pasture land. The forage upon which 
the Breton cattle are supported, is mainly bog hay, 
with occasional rations of pounded gorse or furze, 
as a treat or appetizer, and the pickings over scrub¬ 
by herbage of the hills and moors. The climate is 
points, elegantly curved and somewhat elevated in 
position. When crossed with the Shorthorn, the 
produce is so much like the Dutch cattle, that 
this breed has been supposed to be one of the 
sources from whence the Dutch race has been 
derived. The persistence with which the black and 
white color, and general features of the Bretons 
are reproduced in all their crosses, show them to 
be a well established and pure breed. Upon the 
poor feed they usually receive, the cows yield on 
the average 12 quarts of milk per day, and 31 
lbs. of butter per week ; in extra cases 15 quarts of 
milk per day, and 7 lbs. of butter per week is pro¬ 
duced. M r. Douglas writes to the Field as follows : 
rather picturesque costume. Those pantaloons, or 
breeches, would puzzle a fashionable tailor. But 
with these simple people fashions are not known, 
and the peasant dresses precisely as his ancestors 
did for many generations back, and as his children 
and grandchildren will for generations to come. 
The Poultry Interest. 
One of the best indications of the stronghold 
which rural pursuits have upon our people, is the 
increasing interest in fine poultry. It can no longer 
be called the “hen fever,” for it is peculiar to no 
A BRETON 
BULL. — Owned by J. C. W. Douglas, Finisterre, France. 
bleak, foggy, and ungenial, being subjected to all the 
adverse influences arising from its exposure upon 
three sides to the gales of the Atlantic ocean. The 
Breton cattle are consequently of dimunitive size, 
but when removed to other localities, in which 
their treatment is more generous, they rapidly 
increase in size, and instead of a slight attenuated 
frame, they exhibit a deep carcass, which is shapely 
rounded, while they retain the fine limbs and deer 
like heads of their originals. The bull shown in 
the illustration, for which we are indebted to the 
London Field, is owned by Mr. J. C. W. Douglas, 
of Finisterre, France, and is three years and a half 
old. The portrait is a good representation of an ani¬ 
mal of this breed as it appears under favorable condi¬ 
tions. The color is black and white, the body long 
and fine, the milking properties are well developed, 
the horns fine, white at the base, and black at the 
“ Having had personally pretty extensive experi¬ 
ence in milk stock of all sorts, during some thirty 
odd years of continual residence in Brittany, I hold 
the opinion that there does not exist anywhere a 
breed of dairy cattle, naturally so well up to thg 
mark of what a milk cow should be, and so worthy 
of attention and improvement by the selection of 
good typical males and females from among them¬ 
selves, and of course, by a system of better feeding. 
My accompanying sketch gives a good idea of a 
handsome bull of the breed, three years and a 
half old. I bought him young, and took several 
prizes with him. His father passed into the hands 
of Messrs. Kobertson, of Eaton Farm, Cobham, 
Surry. The peasant, at the other end of the halter, 
is a good specimen of a sturdy Breton farmer.” 
The interest in the picture is increased by the in¬ 
troduction of a Brittany peasant in his odd, but 
section, and the interest has already lasted several 
years, and seems to be increasing rather than di¬ 
minishing. It has become a specialty, supporting 
numerous journals, and holding annual exhibitions, 
far more numerous than those of horticulture. 
Besides all that is said upon poultry in our numer¬ 
ous agricultural papers, we have about a dozen 
journals devoted exclusively to poultry and pet 
stock. The oldest of these journals, The Poultry 
Bulletin, is in its fifth year, and the Poultry World 
in its fourth, both, as well as others elsewhere, we 
understand, well supported, and gaining in reputa¬ 
tion. The poultry shows, which are mostly held iu 
the winter on account of the most perfect plumage 
and heaviest weight of the fowls, are scenes of the 
liveliest competition between the prominent breed¬ 
ers. They draw out the best birds from the choi¬ 
cest pens, and multitudes from city and country 
