THE BEEF CATTLE INDUSTRY 



367 



present. They stand between the Short- 

 horns and Devons in size, are excellent 

 milkers, mature early and are noted for 

 transforming their feed into milk dur- 

 ing the period of lactation and into 

 beef as soon as they are dry. 



Devon cattle are one of the oldest and 

 purest breeds of dual purpose cattle 

 which originated in Great Britain. In 

 their early history, they were closely con- 

 nected with the Hereford and Sussex 

 cattle. The breed is found in its purest 

 and best form in North Devon. The 



Popularity — Devons were first intro- 

 duced into the United States in 1817, 

 after which importations took place with 

 considerable rapidity. The first volume 

 of the American Devon Herd Book was 

 published in 1861. This breed is now 

 found in nearly every state in the Union, 

 but is more numerous in Ohio, Pennsyl- 

 vania, New York, Massachusetts and 

 Wisconsin. Devons are not particularly 

 popular in most parts of this country for 

 dual purpose cattle for the reason that 

 they are somewhat deficient in size for 



Fig. 249 — DEVON BULL, TULIP ROYAL 



English standard for the Devon requires 

 a small, clean head with deer-like ex- 

 pression, thin, fine horns of a cream 

 color tipped with black, growing with 

 a regular curve upwards. The skin is 

 somewhat loose and covered with hair of 

 a soft, furry nature, inclined to curl 

 whenever the animal is in good condi- 

 tion and full coat. The North Devon 

 race of this breed is highly esteemed 

 for beef and for draft purposes, but less 

 for the dairy. Their milk has a high fat 

 content but the quantity is rather small. 

 The South Devon race is sometimes 

 mixed with a larger breed called the 

 Old Marlborough Bed. 



beef and the milk yield is small. They 

 are active grazers and the fat content of 

 the milk is very high. They do not ma- 

 ture quite so early as the standard beef 

 breeds. In crossing and grading up 

 scrub stock, they are quite valuable. 

 The bulls are able to transmit their rich, 

 red color to a large percentage of off- 

 spring. According to the American 

 standard the heads of Devon cows should 

 be rather long, with a broad, indented 

 forehead, tapering slightly towards the 

 nostrils. The nose should be of a flesh 

 color. The minimum weight at three 

 years old is 1,000 pounds. The Devon is 

 neat, smooth and graceful in genera] 



