NfiAT OR HORNED CATTLE. 277 



Highland (Scottish,) a hardy animal, unrivalled for beef; the 

 Welsh runt ; the Irish cattle ; the crumpled horn Alderney, 

 and some others. 



TUB DEVON is among the oldest distinctly cultivated breeds 

 in this country, as he undoubtedly is of England, and proba- 

 bly he is the most universal favorite. This popularity is well 

 deserved, and it is based upon several substantial considera- 

 tions. They are beautifully formed, possessing excessive 

 fineness and symmetry of frame, yet with sufficient bone and 

 muscle to render them perfectly hardy, and they are among 

 the most vigorous and active of working cattle. They have 

 great uniformity of appearance in every feature, size, shape, 

 horns and color. The cows and bulls appear small, but the 

 ox is much larger, and both that and the dam, on cutting up, 

 are found to weigh much beyond the estimates which an rye 

 accustomed only to ordinary breeds, would have assigned to 

 them. The flesh is finely marbled or interspersed with alter- 

 nate fat and lean, and is of superior quality and flavor. The 

 cows invariably yield milk of great richness, and when appro- 

 priately bred, none surpass them for the quantity of butter and 

 cheese it yields. Mr. Bloomfield, the manager of the late 

 Lord Leicester's estate at Holkharn, has, by careful attention, 

 somewhat increased the size without impairing the beauty of 

 their form, and so successful has he been in developing their 

 milking properties, that his average product of butter from 

 each cow, is 4 Ibs. per week for the whole year. He has 

 challenged England to milk an equal number of cows of any 

 breed, against 40 pure Devons, to be selected out of his own 

 henl, without as yet having found a competitor. Although this 

 is not a test of their merits, and by no means decides their su- 

 periority, yet it shows the great confidence reposed in thrm 

 by their owner. The Devon ox under six years old, has 

 come up to a nett dead weight of 1,593 Ibs., and at three 

 years 7 months to 1,316 Ibs., with 1GO Ib.s. of rough tallow. 



Description. The Devon is of medium si/e, and so sym- 

 metrical as to appear small. The color is invariably a drrp, 

 mahogany red, with usually a white udder and strip under the 

 belly, and the tuft at the end of the tail is red in the calves, 

 but white in the older animal. The head is small, broad in 

 the forehead, and somewhat indented. The muzzle is delicate, 

 and both the nose and the rings around the eye in the pure 

 breed, are invariably of a bright, clear, orange. The cheeks 

 and face are thin and fleshless ; the horns clear, smooth, and 

 of a yellowish waite, handsomely curved upwards. The neck 



