THE GENESEE FARMER. 



309 



DEVON CATTLE. 



We have the pleasure this month of presenting 

 to the readers of the Genesee Farmer a beautiful 

 portrait of a Devon Cow. S. L. Goodale, Secre- 

 tary of the Maine Board of Agriculture, in his ex- 

 cellent work on the "Principles of Breeding,"" 

 remarks as follows in regard to tlie qualities of 

 Devon cattle : 



" The North Devons are deemed to be of longer 

 standing than any other of the distinct breeds of 

 England, and they have been esteemed for their 

 good qualities for several centurieg. Mr. George 

 Turner, a noted breeder of Devons, describes them 

 as follows : 4 Their eolor is generally a bright red, 

 but varying a little, either darker or more yellow ; 

 they have seldom any white except about the adder 

 of the cow or belly of the bull, and this is but 

 iittle seen. They have long yellowish horns, beau- 

 tifully and gracefully curved, noses or muzzles 

 white, with expanded nostrils, eyes full and promi- 

 nent, but ealm, ears of moderate size and yellow- 

 ish inside, necks rather long, with but little dew- 

 lap, and the head well set on, shoulders oblique 

 with small points or marrow bones, legs small and 

 straight, and feet in proportion. The chest is of 

 moderate width, and the libs round and well ex- 

 panded, except in some instances, where too great 

 attention has been paid to the hind quarters at the 

 expense of the fore, and which has caused a falling 

 off, or flatness, behind the shoulders. The loins 

 are first-rate, wide, long and full of flesh, hips 

 round and of moderate width; rumps level and 

 well filled at the bed ; tail full near the rump and 

 tapering much at the top. The thighs of the cows 

 are occasionally light, but the bull and ox are full 

 of muscle, with a deep and rich flank. On the 

 whole, there is scarcely any breed of cattle so rich 

 and mellow in its touch, so silky and fine in its 

 hair, and altogether so handsome in its appearance 

 as the North Devon, added to which they have a 

 a greater proportion of weight in the most valua- 

 ble joints and less in the coarse, than any other 

 breed, and also consume less food in its production. 



" 'As milkers they are about the same as most other 

 breeds; the general average of a dairy of cows 

 being about one pound of butter per day from each 

 cow during the summer months, although in some 

 instances the very best bred cows give a great deal 

 more. 



" ' As working oxen they greatly surpass aay 

 -other breed. They are perfectly docile aud excel- 

 lent walkers, are generally worked until five or six 

 years old, and then fattened at less expense than 

 most, other oxen/ 



"The Devons have been less extensively, and 

 more recently, introduced than the Short-horn, but 

 the experience of those who have fairly tried them 

 fully sustains the opinions given of them, and they 

 promise to become a favorite and prevailing breed. 

 The usual objection made to them by those who 

 have been aceustomed to consider improvement in 

 cattle to be necessarily connected with enlarge- 

 ment of size, is, that they are too small. But their- 

 size, instead of being a valid objection, is believed 

 to be a recommendation, the Devons being as large 

 as the fertility of New England soils generally are 

 capable of feeding fully and profitably. 



" Their qualities as working oxen are unrivalled, 

 no other breed so uniformly furnishing such active, 

 docile, strong and hardy workers as the Devons, 

 and their uniformity is such as to render it very 

 easy to mateh them. 



"The Devons are not generally deep milkers, 

 but the milk is richer than that of most other 

 breeds. It is, however, as a breed for general use, 

 ■combining beef, labor and milk, in fair proportion, 

 that the Devons will generally give best satisfac- 

 tion, as they are hardy enough to suit the climate, 

 and cheaply furnish efficient labor and valuable 

 meat." 



Turnips do not Injure the Land. — Sanford 

 Howard, of the Boston Cultivator, recently visited 

 the farm of J. 0. Tatloe, of Holmdel, N. J., so 

 well known as a breeder of South Down sheep, and 

 states that Mr. Taylor cultivates the sugar beet 

 and Swedish turnip to a considerable extent for his 

 sheep. When he first commenced to raise roots, 

 his neighbors told him that the turnips would 

 injure his land for the production of grass. " His 

 experience," says Mr. Howard, " proves that they 

 were mistaken ; for not only does the land produce 

 grass as well as it ever did, but some comparative 

 experiments have proved that grass grows better 

 after turnips than after the crops ordinarily culti- 

 vated in the neighborhood. On one field, a part of 

 which only had been in turnips, the line of the last 

 row could be distinctly traced and distinguished 

 from the part where there were no turnips, by the 

 thicker and greener sward." 



They have had in Lancashire not only hard 

 times but bad weather.; so that the operatives in 

 the mills, who have been in the habit of raising 

 quite a variety of vegetables in their gardens, 

 seem to be prevented this year not only from earn- 

 ing an honest, respebtable living in the mills, but 

 also from enjoying some choice flowers and vege- 

 tables of their own raising. . 



