THE FARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR. 



I! 



[From an English paper extracted into the Farmer's Cabinet.] 

 Proper Form and Shape of Cattle. 



With all the liobtness of the Devonshire ox, there is a point abdut him, disliked in the blood or rid- 

 ing-liorse, and not always approved in ll;e horse of liglU draught, — tlie legs are far under the cheat, 

 or rather llie breast projects far and wide before tlie legs. \Vc see the advantage of this in the beast of 

 (slow draught, who rarely breaks into a trot, except wiien lie is goaded on in catching tivies, and the di- 

 vision of wiiose fuot secures him from stumbling. The lightness of the other parts of his form, how- 

 ever, counterbalances tlie appearance of heaviness here. 



The legs are straight, at least in the best breeds. If they are in-kneed, or crooked in the fore legs, 

 it argues a deficiency in blood, and comparative incapacity for work ; and not only for work, but for 

 grazing too, for they will be hollov/ behind the withers, a point for whicii nothing can compensate, be- 

 cause it, takes away so mucJi from the place wiierc good flesh and fat eliould be thickly laid on, and di- 

 minishes the capacity of the chest and tlie power of creating arterial and nutritious blood. 



The fore-arm is particularly large and powerful. It swells out suddenly above the knee, but id soon 

 lost in the substance ol' the shouldr-r. Belov.' the knee the bone is small to a very extraordinary degree, 

 indicating a seeming of want of strength ; but this impression immediately ceases, for tlie smallnesa 

 is only in front — it is only the bone : the leg is deep, and the sinews are far removed from the bone. — 

 It is the leg of the blood horse, promising both strength and speed. It may perhaps be objected that 

 the leg is a little too long. It would be so in an animal that is destined only to graze ; but this is n 

 working animal J and some length of leg is necessary to get him pleasantly and actively over the 

 ground. 



There is a trifling fall behind the withers, but no hollowness, and the line of the back is straight 

 from them to the setting on of the tail. If there is any seeming fault in the beast, it is that the sides 

 are a little too flat. It will appear, however, that this does not interfere with feeding, while a deep, al- 

 though somewhat flat chest is best adapted for speed. 



Not only is the breast broad and the chest deep, but the two last ribs are particularly bold and prom- 

 inent, leaving room for the stomachs and other parts concerned in digestion to be fully developed. — 

 The hips, or buckles are high, and on a level with the back, whether the breast is fat or lean. The 

 hind quarters, or the space from the buckle to the point of ihe rump, are particularly long, and well 

 filled up — a point likewise of very considerable importance both for grazing and working. It leaves 

 room for flesh in the most valuable part, and like the extensive and swelling quarters of the blood-horse, 

 indicates much power behind, equally connected with strength and speed. This is an improvement 



Devonshire Cattle. 



[Fig. 43.] — Devonshire Ox. 



quite of modern date. Th*i fuUness here, and the swelling out of the thigh below are of much more 

 <o isequence than the prominence of fat which is so much admired on the rump of many prize cattle. 



The setting on of the tail is high ; it is on a level with the back ; rarely much elevated, and naver 

 depressed. This is another great point in the blood-horse, as connected with tlie perfection of the hind 

 quarters. The tail itself is long and small, and taper, with a round bunch of hair at the bottom. 



The skin of the Devon, notwithstanding his curly hnir, is exceedingly mellow and elastic. Graziers 

 know that there is not a more important point than this. When the skin can be easily raised from the 

 hips, it shows that there is room to set on fat below. 



The skin is thin rather than tliick. Its appear- 

 ance of thickness arises from the curly hair with 

 which it is covered, and curly in proportion to the 

 condition and health of the animal. Good judgeg 

 of these cattle speak of these curia as running like 

 little ripples of wind on a pond of water. Some of 

 these cattle have the hair smooth, but then it should 

 be fine and glossy. Tiiose with the curled hair are 

 somewhat more hardy, and fatten more kindly. — 

 The favorite color is a blood red. This is suppos- 

 ed to indicate purity of breed ; but there are many 

 good cattle approaching almost to a chesnnt hue, 

 or even a bay brown. If the eye is clear and good 

 and the skin mellow, the paler colors will bear hard 

 work, and fatten as well as others ; but a beast with 

 a pale skin, and hard under the hand, and the eye 

 dark and dead, will be a sluggish worker, and an 

 unprofitable feeder. Those, however, that are of a 

 yellow color, are said to be subject to strut (diar- 

 rhoea.) 



Some breeders object to the slightest intermix- 

 ture of white — not even a star upon the forehead it 

 allowed ; yet a few good oxen have large distant 

 pitches of white ; but if the colors run into each 

 other, the beasts are condemned as of a mongrel 

 and valueless breed. 



These are the principal points of a good Devon- 

 shire ox ; but he used to be, perhaps he is yet, a 

 little too flat sided, and the rump narrowed too rap- 

 idly behind the hip bones; he was not sufficiently 

 ribbed home, or there was too much space between 

 the hip bones and the last rib; and altogether ho 

 was too light for some tenacious and strong soils. 

 The cut of the working ox, on this page, contains 

 the portrait of one, embodying almost every good 

 point of which we have spoken. 



Mr. Western has carefully preserved this breed 

 unmixed for the last tliirty years, and all the cattle 

 that he fattens are Devons ; he rarely uses them 

 for the plough. 



A selection from the most perfect animals of the 

 true breed, — tiie bone still small and the neck fine, 

 but the brisket deep and wide, and down to tho 

 knees, and not an atom of flatness all over the side 

 — or one cross, and only one with the Hereford, 

 and that stealthy made, — these have improved tlie 

 strength and bulk of the North Devon ox, without 

 impairing, in the slightest degree, his activity^ hi» 

 beauty, or his propensity to fatten.* 



There are few things more remarkable about the 

 Devonsliire cattle than tlie comparative smallnesa 

 of the cow. The bull is a great deal less than tho 

 ox, and the cow almost as much smaller than the 

 Imll. This, however, is some disadvantage, and the 

 breeders are aware of it; for although it may not 

 be necessary to have a large bull, and esjiecially as 

 those of any extraordinary size are seldom hand- 

 some in all their points, somewhere or other pres- 

 ent coarseness or deformity, it is almost impossible 

 to procure large and serviceable oxen, except from 

 a somewhat roomy cow. Those cows however, al- 

 though small, possess that roundness and projection 

 of the two or three last ribs, which make tiiem ac- 

 tually more roomy than a careless examination of 

 them would indicate. The cow is particularly dis- 

 tinguished for her full, round, clear eye, the gold 

 colored circle round the eye, and the same color 

 prevailing on the inside skin of the ear. TIil* coun- 

 tenance cheerful, the muzzle orange or yellow, but 

 the rest of the face having nothing of black or even 

 of white about it. The jaws free from thickness, 

 and the tliroat free fr»m dewlap. The points of 

 the back hindquarters difit:Tent from those of other 

 breeds, having more of roundness and beauty, and 

 being free from most of those angles by which good 

 milkers are sometimes distinguished. 



We are here enabled to present our readers with 

 the portrait of a cow, belonging to that indefatiga- 

 ble agriculturist, Mr. Western. She was rising 

 four years old. With regard to size she is a favor- 

 able specimen of the Devon cow. It will be seen 

 at once how much more roomy and fit for breeding 

 she is, than even hersomewbat superior bulk would 

 at first indicate. She is, perhaps, in a little better con 

 dition than cows generally are, or should be in or- 

 der to yield their full quantity of milk. 



[Fig. 44.] — DfeTonshiro Cow. 



*In the 'Annala of Agriculture,' vnl. xxx., p. 

 314, we have the opinion, in somewhat provincial 

 terms, of a good west country grazier, respectino- 

 the best form of the Devon cattle. 'He buys at all 

 limes, from ChristmaB to May-day, NortJi Devons, 

 that are l>red from Portlock to Biddeford, sucli as 

 are five or six years old. He chooses such as are 

 small horned, and of a yellow colored horn rather 

 than white — small bones, as such beasts thrive best 

 — rib bnues round, not flat — a thick hide bad — a 

 very tliin one objectionable — bhade bones, chuck — 

 very thick and heavy in the bosom, aa much weight 

 lies there — the heavier in the shoulder the better, 

 i but not to elbow tjut — v-vi-y wid* tad sqaar* frow 



