38 



TEE AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



onies in that part of the world. The 

 chief feature of the past season, as of so 

 many that have gone before, is the firm 

 hold which the breed maintains in its own 

 districts. Competition is keener than it 

 was earlier in the century, when the 

 Quartlys were earring out the work of 

 improvement ; but the "Eubies" keep 

 their own, and make a brave defence 

 against all invaders. Whether it be on 

 tiae North Devon uplands, where the very 

 aristocrats of the bovine race are pro- 

 duced, or in the dairying districts of 

 Somersetshire, where a larger dual-pur- 

 pose animal is in request, the Devon up- 

 holds its supremacy, and fulfils all require- 

 ments. The only wonder is that a quali- 

 fication does not more rapidly extend. 

 The visitors to the great Christmas mar- 

 kets of the metropolis can always find a 

 group of Devon fat steers and heifers, that 



run the Scotch a close race as favourites 



of those butchers who have a fashionable 

 trade, and must furnish their customers 

 with the primest of home-fed beef. These 

 perfectly-shaped and finely-finished speci- 

 mens display the excellence of the breed 

 as butchers'' beasts, and supply the prime 

 small joints so highly appreciated. Then, 

 if we take cows of the larger scale, whole 

 dairies of the Devons are to be found in 

 the dairying districts, thus proving the 

 suitability of the breed either for beef or 

 for milk. A breed of cattle possessing 

 such merit for both purposes is bound yet 

 to have a wider recognition. The Devons 

 are well known and esteemed in America 

 and Australia, and it is probable that m 

 llie course of the next few years those 

 home breeders who have stuck to them 

 and steadily improved them will meet with 

 the reward that is their due. 



Shoes ana Shoeing. 



THE USB 



THERE are, says Principal Dewar, in the 

 "Transactions" of the Highland 

 Society, comparatively few horses with 

 moderately good hoofs that do not require 

 to have the hoofs shortened at each shoe- 

 ing. Shoes prevent the natural wear of 

 the hoofs, and paring or dressing of them 

 sufficiently to compensate for the want of 

 that natural wear is required. Some 

 horses wear their hoofs sufficiently with 

 shoes on, but these are generally fast 

 horses, with very free action, doing from 

 twenty to thirty miles a day at a rapid 

 pace. 



A great deal of nonsense has been writ- 

 ten about making the shoe to fit the foot 

 and not the foot the shoe. As a matter of 

 fact, there are very few feet that do not 

 require to be altered, modified, and guided 

 in regard to their wear and direction. 

 The main tendency of a shod hoof is to 

 grow too long. The shoe is carried for- 

 ward by the growth of the hoof, and does 

 not bear the same relation to the axis of 

 the limb that it did when applied. The 



OF SHOES. 



obliquity of the front of the hoof becomes 

 too great. In order to remedy this, as a 

 gene'ral rule the wall requires to be more 

 shortened round the toe than elsewhere. 

 So much has been written in the recent 

 past about the evils of the drawing-knife 

 and the mutilation of the hoof that pro- 

 tection of it has often been carried to the 

 other extreme, and hoofs have often been 

 seen at shoeing competitions at our 

 luitional shows untouched, or only show- 

 ing an appearance of having been scraped, 

 which really require some dressing to re- 

 move the over-grown wall, and prepare a 

 proper level bed for the new shoe. 

 Dressin(; the Hoof. 

 After dirt and loose horn have been re- 

 moved, the rasp is the proper instrument 

 to run round the anterior edge of the wall 

 to shorten it. But it is very seldom that 

 tlie drawing-knife is not required. It has 

 often been stated that the sole should not 

 be touched with the knife. This would 

 l)e correct in the immense majority of 

 cases were the hoofs in their natural con- 



