No. 151.] 353 



tain. They nearly resemble, in forra, the wild cattle before spoken 

 of, as belonging to the Duke of Hamilton and others. Mr. Herbert, 

 a writer in the English Farmers' Magazine, thus describes the De- 

 vonshire ox, "Nimble and free, outwalking many horses, healthy and 

 iiardy, fattening even in a straw yard, good tempered, will stand ma- 

 «y a dead pull, fat in half the time of a Sussex ox, earlier to the 

 yoke than steers of any other breed, lighter than the Sussex, but not 

 •so well horned; thin fleshed, light along the tops of his ribs, a spark- 

 iing cutter, and lean well intermixed with fat." Of the cow, he says, 

 *'■ Red, starred, or white-faced, better horned than the ox, very quiet, 

 the playmate of the children, a sure breeder, a good milker, a quick 

 fattener, fair grass-fed beef in three months." This breed, I have no 

 doubt, is the origin of our deep red cattle in this country; they are 

 universally called Devonshire by our farmers, and will answer Mr. 

 Herbert's description. The finest oxen we have in this State are rai- 

 ■ ed in Connecticut, and are, no doubt, derived from this very breed. 



Being' the most ancient in Great Britain, it was probably brought 

 here by the first settlers. It is generally supposed that our domestic 

 xnimals are descended from the wild buffalo race, and that they have 

 been brought to their present perfection by the force of circumstan- 

 ces, climate, food, &c. I cannot believe this possible. When a small 

 ■calf is dropped on my farm, I immediately examine his points, and 

 ef his legs are short, bones small, hips rather large, flanks deep, ribs 

 and hips near together, straight on the back, has a clean, projecting 

 -eye, thick, loose skin, small nose of a light color, I invariably save 

 nim; and if not desirous of raising him, give him to some neighbor, 

 ^exacting a promise from him to bring him up carefully. 



An animal presenting these points, should on no account be killed, 

 ■j^hether the breed is considered good or bad, as he will be an acqui- 

 sition to any farmer, 1st as a bull, 2d, as a working ox, and 3d, as 

 prime beef. A calf of this description, having symmetrical proper- 

 ties, will acquire a good constitution, great bulk, and become what is 

 <emphatjcally and technically called a splendid animal, provided he is 

 allowed to remain with the cow; the first week he will take half her 

 milk; when one month old he will take all her milk; at two months 

 old he will take the milk of two cows, and a feed each day of gruel 

 made of wheat bran; at three months old he will eat a large quan- 

 tity of green grass and two feeds of gruel ; the second cow must now 

 be taken off, and he may be left with his mother, and the deficiency 

 of nourishment made up by other food, such as ship stuff, boiled roots 

 and grass. At the expiration of five months he may be weaned. 



[Assembly, No. 151.] 23 



