the Devon Breed of Cattle. 
113 
Molton autumn fairs are sent to Barnet, on the 4tli of September, 
whilst those from North Molton and Bampton October fairs go 
on to Black water in Hampshire, for the 8th of November ; and, if 
unsold, from thence to Kingston-on-Thames, on the 13th. Most 
of the heifers are sent into Somersetshire and Dorsetshire to be 
fattened, to which districts also a great many yearlings from North 
Molton May fair and from the neighbourhood are annually sent. 
The " South Hams Breed " to be met with in South Devon 
are quite a distinct variety, and appear to have been at some 
time crossed with the Guernsey. They are said to be good 
milkers, possessing large frames, coarse bones, and an immense 
quantity of offal. Luckily the land on which they are fattened 
is rich, and after a time they make great weights, having large 
internal accumulations of fat, an excess of Avhich is the farmer's 
loss and the butcher's gain : but their flesh, which consists more 
of the fourpenny and less of the ninepenny beef, is decidedly 
inferior to that of the North Devon. Nevertheless thev have 
several warm advocates among tenant farmers in South Devon, 
who say that they ai'e fairly remunerative. It is to be regretted 
that, whilst retaining their milking properties, no endeavour 
appears to be made to convert their wedgeKke shape into a 
nearer resemblance to a parallelogram, together with a tendency 
to lay on beef in the most valuable parts. 
From the earliest times the true Devon colour has been red, 
varying from a dark to a lighter or almost chestnut shade, 
which in summer often becomes beautifully mottled with darker 
spots. Twenty or thirty years ago those of the lighter colour were 
more plentiful than at present ; they are often of the richest quality, 
though perhaps less hardy than those of a little darker shade. 
The hair of very dark-coated animals is wiry and the skin hard 
and coarse : indicative of less aptitude to fatten and of inferior 
quality of flesh. Extremes should be avoided, viz., delicacy of 
constitution on the one hand and coarseness on the other ; those 
of a middle shade being on the whole the most serviceable. 
Devon breeders strongly object to white ; undoubtedly, an 
animal without any is preferable, though it would be unwise to 
reject one, perfect in all other respects, if the white be confined 
to the udder only. Black or mottled noses are almost unknown, 
and certainly consign their possessors to the butcher's stall for 
veal. Judging from the rude state of agriculture (until within 
say the last 150 years), it is not improbable that our ancestors 
(who required their cattle for beef only) were less fastidious 
than we are, and probably did not object to breed from an 
animal with a dark muzzle or a little white on the skin, if it 
came up to their standard as a meat-producer. 
DeA'ons were formerly much sought after for their activity, 
VOL. V. — S.S. I 
