758 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. 



As a beef animal, the Devon ranks as first-class for fineness 

 of flesh and delicacy of flavor. It matures as early as the 

 Short-horn, and its meat is finer grained, juicy, and nicely mar- 

 bled. In the London markets Devon beef usually brings a penny 

 a pound more than that of the larger breeds. They are good 

 feeders, taking on flesh rapidly, and their flesh is of excellent 

 quality. They have been fed in England to attain a net weight 

 of from nine hundred to over fifteen hundred pounds, and a 

 pair of Devon oxen, in Connecticut, which were worked till six 

 years old, and then fed for fifteen months, made the following 

 weights : 



No. 1 Carcass, 1,438 Ibs. 



Hide, 117 " 



Tallow, 175 " 



Total, 1,730 " 



No. 2 Carcass, 1,528 Ibs. 



Hide, 115 " 



Tallow, 213 " 



Total, 1,856 " 



These weights are exceptional, however, but Mr. Allen says 

 that he has slaughtered many steers at three and a half years old 

 which gave a profitable weight quarters, hide, and tallow of 

 from seven hundred to eight hundred and fifty pounds, which 

 never had been fed any thing but grass and hay. Still, popular 

 opinion in the United States classes them as too small for the most 

 profitable beef animal, and on our rich prairie lands they can not 

 compete with the Short-horns, Herefords, and Aberdeens. In 

 the Southern States they are popular, and often preferred to 

 any other breed, as they bear the climate well and are more free 

 from diseases than many others. Their muscular activity makes 

 them valuable for high, rolling lands and mountain ranges, and 

 on such farms they will give better satisfaction than the heavier 

 breeds. 



Devons in the United States. The accounts of the 

 earlier introduction of these cattle to this country are meager. 

 From the appearance of the New England cattle, there is little 

 doubt that some Devons were early brought into Massachusetts, 



