Oxen are much used for hauling
purposes as well as for the plough. A pair of oxen, it is considered,
will do the work of four horses.
Professor Wrightson says: "The Podolian is an aboriginal race, descended
from the wild urox (_Bos primigenius_). The race is remarkable for its
capability of resisting influences of climate, and its contentedness
with poor diet.... The Hungarian oxen are considered by naturalists as
the best living representative of the original progenitors of our
domestic cattle." Of the buffalo the same writer says: "It was
introduced into Hungary by Attila; it is found in the lowlands, on both
sides of the Danube and the Theiss, Lower Hungary, and Transylvania. In
1870 there were upwards of 58,000 in Transylvania, and more than 14,000
in Hungary."[10]
Later in my tour, when at Klausenburg, I had an opportunity of seeing an
extensive dairy where upwards of a hundred buffalo cows were kept. The
farm alluded to is admirably managed, and, I am told, yields very
profitable returns.
It is the opinion of Professor Wrightson that cattle are diminishing in
Hungary owing to the breaking up of pastures and the recurrence of
rinderpest. He says he does not think that the English market can look
to Hungary for a supply of cattle at present. This gentleman did not, I
believe, visit Transylvania, and I am inclined to think the supply from
_that_ part of the kingdom is greatly on the increase; there the
pastures are _not_ in process of being turned into arable land, and the
rise in prices has given an impetus to the profitable employment of
capital in raising stock.
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