BREEDS 147 



national asset to our future agriculture 1 ; for no one can deny 

 that now there are many districts where little meat is produced 

 and no corn at all. And it is to be remembered that it is fre- 

 quently under these very circumstances that cattle can, by means 

 of the farmyard manure they manufacture, make it possible to 

 grow profitable crops of corn. Further, it is quite conceivable 

 that, with more knowledge of the science and practice of 

 breeding, the constitution of the Sussex might be combined 

 with some good qualities he does not now possess. I have seen 

 some particularly good beeflings of this breed but always 

 among those which had been forced with very high feeding; 

 I have great doubts about their being made good enough on 

 mere commercial rations. 



The South Devon. 



It is a great pity that the old local name of "South Hams" 

 has not been adopted by modern breeders, for this very large, 

 strong-boned, pale-red, dual-purpose animal, We have, as has 

 previously been observed, a subdivision already existing among 

 the small neat Devons. My own*, journeys to study the South 

 Hams have led me at least as much into Cornwall as into Devon- 

 shire! No two breeds could be more dissimilar; nevertheless, 

 following the tradition by which the nomenclature of farming 

 has been persistently confused, the Herd Book Society deter- 

 mined, some 30 years ago, that "South Devon" should be the 

 name of the cattle which they formed themselves into a 

 corporation to improve. 



There are several interesting points about this huge, and it 

 must be admitted, ungainly beast. Its size is very great; its 

 skeletal development is enormous; among the cows are to be 

 found very deep-milkers indeed, though they vary very much 

 in this respect, and they have, as one might expect, tremendous 

 appetites. The milk they give has locally the reputation of 

 being specially fine for purposes of making clotted cream, and 

 the beautiful butter that originates from the local production. 

 This is what the outside world knows as "Devonshire Cream," 

 but west of Plymouth such a description will be very emphatic- 

 ally corrected by the assertion that Cornish cream is better, 



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