114 
The Rise and Progress of 
worked up to five years old, and then fattened ; but ox-labour 
lias been found unequal to the present system of husbandry. It 
is undeniably true that, until a comparatively recent period, the 
existence and reputation of the Devon breed was chiefly sus- 
tained by yeomen who could not afFord to give each other the 
almost fabulous prices which are paid for short-horns ; and, 
owing to the isolation of the county and the difficulty of com- 
munication with their native district more particularly, they 
had not become so fashionable. The ' Herd-Book,' however, 
proves that since that time each succeeding year secures fresh 
adherents and admirers among noblemen and extensive land- 
owners. Previous to its publication Devon breeders spoke of 
their best animals by some distinguishing name (often that of 
the donor of a prize it had won, as, for instance, the bull Silli- 
fant was so called after Mr. Sillifant, who first gave the prize for 
a bull yearling at Exeter), or it referred to any accidental cir- 
cumstance connected with its career, thus enabling themselves 
and their neighbours to indicate and recognise any particular 
beast alluded to. Strangers, however, found this more difficult : 
therefore Captain Davy, of Rose Ash,* observing the deficiency, 
and thinking they deserved to have their pedigrees recorded and 
that it would assist the public in tracing out different sorts of 
blood, compiled and published the first volume of the ' Devon 
Herd-Book.' in time for distribution at the Royal Agricultural 
Show at Windsor in 1851. It contained the entries of 132 bulls 
and 483 cows, alphabetically arranged and numbered separately 
for the sake of distinction and reference. From the accuracy 
with which the pedigrees of these beasts were preserved by their 
owners and handed down to their successors, a larger number 
could have been added and the whole traced to a more remote 
period : but it was thought sufficient to include those only, and 
trace their parentage to others, which the majority of living 
persons interested could easily identify. Among the earliest 
was Prize (108), calved about 1819, bred by Mr. Quartly, and 
sold to Mr. Childe, of Kinlet ; Forester (46), also bred by Mr. 
Quartly in 1827, and his great grand-sire, bred by the late 
Mr. J. T. Davy, of Rose Ash; Oxford (89), bred in 1836 by 
the late Mr, W, Davy, of Flitton, who gained the first prize at 
the Royal Agricultural Meeting at Oxford ; Cambridge (12) 
and Sillifant (120) were well remembered. The fourth volume, 
bringing up the number of bulls to 768, and females to 2474, 
was published in 1863 ; and the fifth volume, bringing pedigrees 
down to the present time, is in course of compilation. 
It is pretty generally understood that other families have 
* The author of this Essay.— Ed, 
