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DIFFERENT BREEDS OF OXEN. 87 



to say, into the red, the beasts probably come of a valueless breed. 

 One of the most remarkable points about the Devonshire cattle 

 is the comparative smallness of the cow. The bull is a great 

 deal less than the ox, and the cow is as much smaller than the 

 bull. The cows, however, although small, have the two or 

 three last ribs so well-rounded and projecting as to make 

 them roomy. The cow has a full, round, and clear eye, a gold- 

 coloured circle round the eye, and the same colour prevailing on 

 the inside skin of the ear. The countenance is animated, the 

 muzzle orange or yellow, and the rest of the face has neither 

 black nor white about it. The jaws are not thick, and the 

 throat has no dewlap. The back and hind-quarters are round 

 and beautifully made, and they are free from most of those angles 

 by which good milkers are sometimes characterised. 



These oxen of Devonshire are very useful for ploughing land, 

 provided that it be not too heavy, for they are stout, quick, and 

 docile. In the case of fallow land, four steers will in one day 

 plough two acres by means of a double-furrow plough. At the 

 same time we must remember that these oxen are not of sufficient 

 strength to allow of their being used for ploughing tenacious 

 and clayey soils. They are worked in yokes, not in collars ; and 

 four oxen, or perhaps six growing steers, are, as a rule, employed 

 to draw one plough. As Mr. William Youatt has charmingly 

 narrated in his book on cattle, a man and a boy attend each team. 

 The boy chants a pleasing succession of sounds, and it is a very 

 pleasant thing to listen to the simple music sung by the drivers of 

 the ploughs as they slowly wend their way up and down the sloping 

 hills which wall in the valleys. This chanting is said to animate 

 the oxen, just as the musical bells, which are so prevalent in 

 the county, likewise cheer. At any rate, it is certainly the 

 case that the oxen move along with agility, and so willing are 

 they in their work that we may watch the teams for a long time 

 without either hearing any harsh word uttered by the drivers or 

 seeing the whip or the goad being used. In this connection we 

 may point out that the activity of these oxen is of quite an excep- 

 tional kind, and that it is entirely unknown in the case of the 

 cattle of any other part of the kingdom. During the time of 

 harvest, these oxen are sometimes trotted along with the empty 

 wagons at even the rate of six miles an hour. 



Lord Somerville states that, after having been worked lightly 



