DOMESTICATED BRITISH CATTLE 103 
entirely different character, thereby showing that 
there is no connection, as has sometimes been 
asserted to be the case, between the colour of the 
Devons and that of the rocks and soil of their native 
county. As compared with the Devon breed, Sussex 
cattle are larger, bigger-boned, and hardier in con- 
stitution, both breeds, in the opinion of Mr. H. 
Rigden, being probably derived from old medium- 
horned red cattle of the south and south-western 
counties of England. In colour, Sussex cattle should 
be wholly red, with white tail-tufts, but white flecks 
may appear on the body, and the muzzles of the 
bulls must be white. A century and a half ago it 
was noted that Sussex cattle, like the pigs of the 
same county, were unusually long-legged, and it 
has been suggested that this feature was due to the 
bad state of the roads. Be this as it may, when 
the Weald district was the centre of a great iron- 
producing industry the strong-limbed Sussex steers 
were specially well adapted for hauling timber 
through the heavy undrained tracks of the partially 
cleared forest. The Lyne herd, dispersed in 1903, 
was descended from the old working breed, and prob- 
ably the oldest in Sussex. 
The horns tend to be large and long, curving 
forwards and inwards in the cows, although nearly 
straight in the bulls ; the skin is soft, thick, and in 
winter clothed with thick and frequently curly hair. 
In former days the Sussex were more like Devons 
than is now the case ; but the cows of the modern 
breed are less prolific as regards milk than the South 
Devons. As regards the purposes of the butcher, 
Sussex oxen are almost equal to shorthorns. 
Sussex cattle were introduced into the United 
