THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 73 



power is a disadvantage. In light farm work their alertness 

 is conspicuous ; and two oxen will perform the labour of one 

 horse. Oxen, however, are not used for labour universally 

 throughout Devonshire, nor, where the practice still continues, 

 is it so much in vogue as formerly ; for the breeders obtain a 

 remunerating price from the graziers for their oxen, at an 

 earlier age than that at which it is usual to break them in. 



It is the general plan to take oxen into work at two years 

 old : they are put to light labour for the first year or two, 

 and then to harder work, till the age of five or six, when they 

 are grazed or fed on hay, corn, oil-cake, or turnips, for the 

 market ; for which they are ready in about twelve months, or 

 even earlier. Few oxen equal the Devons in the promptitude 

 with which they fatten; they do not, indeed, attain to the 

 weight of the larger breeds, but they lay on flesh rapidly, and 

 with a small proportionate consumption of food ; and the meat is 

 of first-rate quality, being fine-grained and beautifully marbled. 

 As it regards the dairy, the North Devonshire cow holds a 

 moderate rank : some cows yield much more than others ; 

 and the milk is extremely rich, producing a more than ordi- 

 dinary proportion of cheese or butter. A good cow will give 

 about three gallons of milk per day, for the first twenty weeks 

 after calving ; after this the milk decreases, and stops at the 

 end of about nine months ; so that the total annual amount 

 will not be more than about a gallon and a half per day ; but 

 then, the proportionate quantity of butter is considerable 

 A cow of mixed breed, between a North Devon and a York- 

 shire bull, has been found to give twenty-four quarts of milk 

 per day, for five months after calving ; but the milk was less 

 rich than that of the pure Devon breed, twelve quarts pro- 

 ducing only one pound of butter ; while eight quarts of the 

 milk of the pure Devon cow returned the same quantity. 

 This, and other mixed breeds, prevail about Exeter, and 

 along the whole vale of the Exe. Many are excellent, being 

 fine in the coat, horn, and bone, and short in the legs. 



Pure North Devon cows are kept chiefly for breeding, and 

 are superior as nurses, the calves thriving rapidly on their 

 rich milk : a good cow will often fatten two calves a year. When 

 dried, at the proper age, the Devon cows rapidly acquire flesh, 

 and make fair grass-fed beef, in three or four months. The 

 cows weigh from 30 to 40 st. ; the oxen, from 50 to 60 St., 

 and upwards. Numbers of the latter are sent, from the 

 northern parts of the country, to the London market, and the 

 markets of the principal towns in the west of England. 



