THE DEVONS. 



uoW, that all attempts to improve them, so far as grazing and fatten- 

 ing go, have utterly failed. They are often 14 cwt. to the four 

 quarters ; and steers of 2| cwt. are got with fair hay and grass to 

 weigh from six to nine cwt. They bear considerable resemblance to 

 the Herefords, and sometimes the color, and the horn, and the white 

 face, are so much aUke in both, that it is difficult to distinguish 

 between them, except that they are usually smaller than the Herefords. 



There are few parts of the country in which there is such bad 

 management, and utter neglect of the preservation of the breed, as in 

 this and the most eastern part of Devon. It is not properly a grazing 

 district, except in the neighborhood of Tavistock ; but young cattle 

 are rather brought forward for after-grass or turnips elsewhere than 

 finished here for the market, and the method in which this is con- 

 ducted is not to be commended. If a calf look likely to fatten, it is 

 suflfered to run with the cow ten or twelve months, and then slaugh- 

 tered. If others, that had not before shown a disposition to thrive, 

 now start, they are forwarded as quickly as may be, and disposed 

 of ; and therefore it is that all those that are retained, and by which 

 the stock is to be kept up, are the very refuse of the farm. Yet 

 the breed is not materially deteriorated. It has found a congenial 

 climate, and it will flourish there in spite of neglect and injury. Th6 

 grand secret of breeding is to suit the breed to the soil and climate. 

 It is because this has not been studied, that those breeds, which 

 have been invaluable in certain districts, have proved altogether 

 profitless and unworthy of culture in others. The South Devons 

 are equally profitable for the grazier, the breeder, and the butcher ; 

 but their flesh is not so dehcate as that of the Devons. They do for 

 the consumption of the navy ; they will not suit fastidious appetites. 



The farmers in the neigborhood of Dartmoor breed veiy few cat- 

 tle. Their calves are usually procured from East Devon, or even 

 from Somerset or Dorset. They are reared at the foot of the moors 

 for the use of the miners. All, however, are not consumed ; but the 

 steers are sold to the farmers of the South Hams, who work them as 

 long as they are serviceable ; they are then transferred to the graziers 

 from Somersetshire, or East Devon, or Dorset, by whom they are 

 probably driven back to their native country, and prepared for the 

 market of Bristol or London. A very curious peregrination this, 

 which great numbers of the west-country cattle experience. 



As we now travel eastward, we begin to lose all distinctness of 

 breed. The vale of Exeter is a dairy district, and, as such, contains 

 all kinds of cattle, according to the fancy of the farmer. There are 

 a few pure Devons, more South Devons, and some Aldemeys ; but 

 the majority are mongrels of every description : many of them, how- 

 ever, are excellent cows, and such as are found scattered over Corn- 

 wall, West Devonshire, Somerset, and part of Dorset. 



As we advance along the south and the east, to Teignmouth, Ex- 

 2 



