SOUTH DEVON STRAIN 131 



milk production, to indicate that when wanted the North 

 Devon is capable by selection of being transformed into a 

 good dairy breed. A heifer of Thomas Dyer of Tencreek, 

 in 1905 gave 3^ gallons of milk daily, yielding 4.9 per cent of 

 butter-fat in the morning and 4.4 per cent, in the evening 

 an average of 4.65 per cent. equivalent to 2 Ibs. of butter 

 per day ; and William Kidner of Kingston had a cow which 

 gave iioo gallons of milk in 1 1 months. Milch cows retain 

 their lean flesh well, and fatten into good beef " after dropping 

 their fourth or even fifth calf." 



The cattle belonging to the South Devon division of the 

 breed differ materially in form from the North Devon types, 

 South Devons being larger, coarser, and not so deeply coloured. 

 They perhaps acquired these differences to some extent, and 

 also their greater milking powers, by crossing long ago with 

 Channel Islands cattle. This, however, is by no means re- 

 garded as an established fact or accepted among South Devon 

 breeders. These now publish their own Herd Book, the 

 subscribers to Vol. IX. of which (1905) numbered over 250. 



Youatt refers (1834) to the practice of crossing the 

 English South Coast and Isle of Wight cows with Alderney 

 and Norman cows, but it is believed that the South Devon 

 breed existed long before that time : 



" The dairy stock has been occasionally mixed with the 

 Guernsey or Alderney cattle, and with success, so far as the 

 quantity and quality of milk go. ... The Alderney is a 

 favourite breed ; a cross between it and the Devon has 

 produced some very good cows, well adapted for the dairy, 

 and not unprofitable for the butcher." 



Since the end of the eighties in last century, the South 

 Devon cattle have been steadily asserting themselves .as a 

 distinct breed. They have been growing in favour as general 

 purpose animals for the production of both meat and milk, 

 and their development in type and quality has been a subject 

 of remark at the leading shows. They have extended in 

 considerable numbers into the counties contiguous to their 

 home centre and into the Midlands, and they have been 

 increasingly shipped to South Africa, South America, and the 

 United States. Their powers of milk and beef production 

 may be estimated from instances cited by Alfred Michelmore, 

 Live Stock Journal Almanac \ 1903 : 



