170 DEVONS. 



COWS. BULLS. 



48 Forward 62 



8 Hind quarters 12 



20 Udder 



2 Tail 2 



4 -. Legs 4 



8 Skin 8 



2 Size 4 



8 General appearance 8 



100 ... . Perfection 



CHARACTERISTICS 



Probably the most prominent trait of the Devon is his sprightly 

 energy. In the early days of the present century, when the fertile 

 prairies of the Great West held their virgin soil unbroken, the farmers 

 of New England found abundant exercise in removing the stones, 

 stumps and saw logs with which their land was covered. For this pur- 

 pose oxen were employed almost exclusively, and the grades from those 

 early imported Devons were eagerly sought. The writer has in mind 

 an amusing incident related by his father concerning a yoke of grade 

 Devon steers, which, for two good miles, in response to the fun-loving 

 spirit of their youthful driver, succeeded in keeping behind them a span 

 of fine carriage horses belonging to a neighbor, and driven by the 

 neighbor's son. 



As work oxen, the Devons have no superior in the world ; they lack, 

 perhaps, the weight necessary to move enormous loads, but their remark- 

 able quickness, combined with an intelligent observance of the driver's 

 will, make them invaluable for work of certain kinds. For beef, little 

 recommendation is needed ; the improvement of the breed has, with 

 many breeders, been almost entirely in this direction. Allen, in his 

 valuable treatise on American Cattle (previously quoted), after speaking 

 of the excellent milk qualities of the cows in a herd of Devons owned 

 by him, says : 



" It is but fair to say, however, that after we commenced crossing our cows with 

 bulls of later importation, some 15 years after the commencement of the herd, the large 

 milkers were not so numerous, although the cattle from these crosses were somewhat 

 finer. The bulls we used were apparently bred from stocks highly improved with an 

 effort more to develop their feeding properties than for the dairy." 



We are glad to note that not all of our Devon breeders have fol- 

 lowed these points so closely as to lose sight of the capabilities of the 

 breed for dairy purposes, and, in this connection, quote the following 

 from the report of Wm. Brown, Professor of Agriculture in the Ontario 

 (Canada) Agricultural College, for 1886 : 



"Of this distinctly intermediate class of cattle < Devons), milk and beef combination, 

 we have to repeat the observation that none can make better calves, few so content and 

 hardy, and but one richer in dairy product. The Devon has not held the world's patron- 



