DEVON BUEED.] 



CATTLE, AND THEIE VAEIETIES. 



[deyott breed. 



to the long-horned breed ; are chiefly of a rufous 

 colour; large size, with flat cliests and buttocks. 

 Crosses with the Hereford, Devon, and Ayr- 

 shire breeds, have been endeavoured to be 

 obtained from them, but without success. One 

 Alderney, however, has been introduced to a 

 dairy, for every ten or twelve of the native 

 breed ; and this has been found greatly to 

 increase the quantity of cream, as well as to 

 improve the quality of the butter. 



Crosses, or breeds more or less distinct, 

 prevail in every dairy district of this county ; 

 but it is unnecessary to specify them here, as 

 it would only be merely a repetition of the same 

 tiling over and over again. There are other 

 breeds, however, of a more specific character 

 which merit our attention. 



THE SHROPSHIRE BREED. 



Among the long-horned race must be 

 reckoned the old Shropshire breed — a large- 

 boned and hardy race, well fitted to serve the 

 dairy. Ifc would appear that this breed is 

 seldom to be seen pure, having been crossed 

 with advantage by the short-horned Holder- 

 ness. In Staffordshire, the old long-horned 

 breed has been, in most parts, superseded by 

 short-horned cattle. It still, however, main- 

 tains its ground in the north of that county, 

 more particularly along the banks of the Trent 

 and the Dove, close to the borders of Derby- 

 shire. Between the long-horned and the 

 short-horned races of our cattle, intervenes a 

 race termed " middle-horns," represented by 

 the North Devonshire, Somersetshire, Here- 

 fordshire, Gloucestershire; and Sussex cattle. 



THE DEVONSHIRE BREED. 

 This breed is of great antiquity, and has 

 been long celebrated for beauty. Like most 

 of our other breeds, it has become improved 

 during the last fifty or sixty years, and has, 

 perhaps, now attained to its perfection. The 

 head of the Devon ox is small, but broad across 

 the forehead, and narrow at the muzzle; the 

 horns curve gracefully upwards; the chest is 

 deep, and the back straight. The cow is small, 

 compared with tho bull. Thus, then, physio- 

 logically speaking, the breed is well formed, 

 and it is of very long standing. In disposition 

 the whole race is docile and tractable, gentle 

 and patient ; whUst they are very hardy, con- 

 640 



sidering the mild and humid nature of tlie 

 climate in which they subsist. They are not, 

 however, very famous for their milk-producing 

 qualities ; nor, if early fat is the grazier's object, 

 are they very extraordinary feeders. Still 

 they will feed, and attain to a considerable 

 size. At some periods of their growth they 

 produce a class of beef of ftiir quality. Eed, 

 and nothing but red, is a sine qua non in a 

 Devonshire ox. He has a moderately straight 

 top, and a somewhat thin skin, covered with 

 curly hair. The rump is narrower than that 

 of the short-horns, and the crop lighter and 

 flatter; but the brisket is large and full, the 

 legs fine, the shoulder slanting, and the neck 

 long and thin. He is what would be denomi- 

 nated, in the short-horn districts, a " shelly" 

 animal, and cannot be pronounced a good 

 grazer. As a draught animal, however, he 

 stands very high. The cow is not a good 

 milker. A short-horn breeder speaks veiy 

 prejudicially of this breed. He thus describes 

 the cattle at a fair in Devonshire : — " "With the 

 exception of one animal, I did not see a level 

 carcass ; but a want of beef in the roasting 

 parts ; low and poor loins, coa.'se shoulders, 

 bad twist (thighs), and a general want of indi- 

 cations of inside proof." Of the beef, when 

 killed, he says — "The meatwas actuallyrunning 

 about the stall, being nothing more than a 

 mixture of flabby masses, deficient of fineness 

 of texture and quality." Mr. Parkinson, in 

 his invaluable and practical Treatise on Live 

 Stock, mentions that a thin hide in the Devous 

 is not quite a recommendation. He gives the 

 weight of some specimens of six-year-old 

 cattle, which weighed some fifty-seven stone, 

 two pounds ; but the cows much less. He 

 says of them — " On the whole, they must be 

 allowed to be good cattle for their soils, and 

 particularly where oxen are worked at the 

 plough. When slaughtered, they are a sort 

 of beef that suits the consumption of many 

 customers." Some have supposed that the 

 Devonshire was the original breed of this island 

 — a supposition which others have pronounced 

 simply absurd. 



The system of ploughing with oxen is ver} 

 generally practised in Devonshire ; and, where 

 the land is not too heav}--, no teams of oxen 

 are superior, if equal, to them in this kind of 

 work. It is, however, to the grazier, that 



