FARMERS' REGISTER— SUSSEX BREED. 



196 



a regular curve upwards, and rather springing from 

 each other; Hci-ht in the withers, resting on a 

 shoulder a httle retiring and spreading, and so 

 rounded below as to sink all appearance of its 

 pinion in the body of the animal; open bosom, 

 willi a deep chest, or keel; small and tapering be- 

 low the knee, fine at and above the joint, and 

 where the arm begins to increase, it becomes sub- 

 denly lost in the shoulder; line of the back straight 

 from the -wathersto the rump, lying completely on 

 a level with the pin, or hucldcs, which lie wide 

 and open; the hind quarters seated high with flesh, 

 leaving a fine hair ham tajjering from the hock to 

 the fetlock; long from rump to buckle, and from the 

 pinion of the shoulder to the end of the nose; thin 

 loose skin, covered with hair of a soil and furiy 

 nature, inclined to curl whenever the animal is in 

 good condition and in full coat, when it also be- 

 comes mottled with darker shades of its perma- 

 nent color, which is that of a bright blood red. 

 without white, or other spots, particularly on the 

 male: a white udder is sometimes passed over, but 

 seldom without objection. 



''This description may be considered as a sum- 

 mary of the perfections as to the exterior appear- 

 ance of the animal: what, under the same head, 

 may be regarded as defects, appear first in the sud- 

 den retiring of the vamp from behind the buckle 

 to a narrow point backwards; the great space be- 

 tiveen the_ buckle and first rib; thesmallness of the 

 angle inwards at which the ribs appear to be pro- 

 jected from the spine or back-bone, often giving 

 the appearance of a flat-sided animal, and in its 

 being so much tucked up in the girth as to show an 

 awkward cavity between the keel and navel, the 

 line of which, it is presumed, should always be 

 found to hold a position as nearly as possible paral- 

 lel with that of the back from the witliers to the 

 loin. The animal is, however, generally well 

 grown, and filled up behind the shoulder." 



The North Devon cattle are highly esteemed 

 both for feeding and draught; but are not so much 

 valued lor the dairy. For all the purposes of labor, 

 whether activity, docility, or strength and hardi- 

 ness, this breed can scarcely be excelled; and it is 

 even said that, on fallow land, it is no vmcommon 

 day's work for four steers to plough two acres with 

 a double furrow plough. The ordinary average 

 weight of the oxen, when fatted at five years old, 

 is about eleven score per quarter; and that of full 

 sized cows seldom exceeds eight. 



In South Devon there is a mixture of the pure 

 North Devon stock with a larger breed, of the 

 sanre kind, called the Old Marlborough Red; 

 which is said to have descended from the South 

 Molton stock, although at present they dilftr ma- 

 terially li-om them in size, and in having a dingy 

 brown or blackish color at the ears, nose, and round 

 the eyes, or wherever the orange tint is observa- 

 ble in the genuine race.- A cross with this species 

 is, however, found to fatten more readily than the 



transparent, upright, tapering, and gently curved, but 

 not tipped with black.— See Jlsricultural Survey of 

 Sussex, p,2i8. 



pure South Devon, and is therefore generally pre- 

 ii^rrcd. 



III. The Sussex breed difiers but little from the 

 Devonshire: when pure, the cattle are invariably 

 dark red; and those which are marked with a mix- 

 ture of either wdiite or black, although passing un- 

 der the denomination of Sussex, are always cross- 

 ed with foreign blood. In other respects they are 

 thus described by an eminent breeder,* the accura- 

 cy of whose judgement has been confirmed by 

 many intelligent graziers. 



"A thin head, and clean jaw; the horns pointing 

 forward a little, and then turning upward, thin, 

 tajiering, and long; the eye large and full; the 

 tliroat clean, no dewlap; long and thin in the neck; 

 wide and deej) in the shoulders; no projection in 

 the point of the shoulder, when looked at from be- 

 hind; the fore-legs wide; round and straight in the 

 barrel, and free from a rising back-bone; no hang- 

 ing heaviness in the belly; wide across the loin; 

 the space between the hip-bone and the first rib 

 very small; the hip-bone not to rise high, but to be 

 large and wide; the loin, and space between the 

 hips, to be flat and wide, but the fore part of the 

 carcass round; long and straight in the rump, and 

 wide in the tip; the tail to lay low, for the flesh to 

 swell above it; the legs not too long; neither thick 

 nor thin on the thigh; the leg thin; shut well in the 

 twist; no fulness in the outside of the thigh, but all 

 of it within; a squareness behind, common in all 

 long-horned beasts, -greatly objected to; the finer 

 and thinner in the tail the better. 



"Of these points, the Sussex beasts are apt to 

 be more deficient in the shoulder than in any other 

 part. A well made ox stands straight, and nearly 

 perpendicular, on small clean legs; a large bony 

 leg is a very bad point, but the legs moving freely, 

 rather under the body than as if attached to the 

 sides; the horns pushing a little forward, spreading 

 moderately, and turning up once. The horn of 

 the Devonshire, which very much resembles the 

 Sussex, but smaller and lighter, is longer, and rises 

 generally higher. The straightness of the back 

 line is sometimes broken, in very fine beasts, by a 

 lump between the hips." 



On a com])arison between the Devon and Sussex 

 breeds, the former has been considered by compe- 

 tent judges as thinner, narrower, and sharper than 

 the latter, on the top of the shoulder or blade bone; 

 the point of the shoulder generally projects more, 

 and they usually stand narrower in the chest; their 

 chine is thinner, and flatter in the barrel, and they 

 hang more in the flank; but they are wider in the 

 hips, and cleaner in the neck, head, and horns, and 

 smaller in the bone, than the Sussex; their hides 

 are thinner and softer, and they handle as mellow. 

 The distinction between them, however, is not 

 very striking; they are equally profitable to the 

 grazier, and, as working cattle, they both stand 

 unri vailed. t 



* Mr. EHman, of Glynde. See Agricultural Survey 

 of Sussex, p. 231. 



] See the Agricultural Survey of Sussex, p. fJSSand 

 Chapter II. 



