118 
The Rise and Progress of 
at Exeter and Barnstaple, particularly witli his favourite cow 
Flower, and her family. He was compelled by ill health to 
relinquish farming in 1842, soon after the Royal Agricultural 
Society was established, or in all probability he would have been 
a successful exhibitor. He bred the grandsire of Tulip (451), 
dam of the celebrated bull Forester (40), proving that in early days 
no jealous "Show-yard feeling existed among breeders ; but living 
near, and knowing one another well, they bought, sold, and 
worked from each other's bulls without reserve, their aim being 
to improve the general symmetry, quality, and flesh-points of 
their beasts. The late Mr. Thomas, of Rose Ash, very success- 
fully exhibited many animals bred by, or immediately descended 
from, Mr. J. T. Davy's herd ; among them the first-prize bull at 
Exeter, Lopes (G4), and che celebrated prize cow Taunton (440), 
calved in 1837 ; and gained a silver cup at Taunton in 1840, at 
Exeter as the best breeding cow, and in 1841 at Taunton as the 
best cow and offspring ; her daughter Birthday (38), who gained 
the first prize as a cow at the Devon Show at Exeter, also at 
Barnstaple, was afterwards sold to Colonel Morris of New York, 
and there laid the foundation of a family of Devons which are 
highly prized, Mr. Davy died in 1852, and was succeeded bv 
his son Captain Davy, the Editor of the ■ Devon Herd-Book,' 
who bred among others Mayboy (249), also of Forester descent, 
the winner of many prizes in the United States ; also Richmond 
(292), a Bath and VVest of England winner. The herd of the 
late Mr. William Davy, of Flitton Barton, North Molton, com- 
bined size, quality, and good milking properties ; previous to his 
death, about 1840, he gained a number of prizes at the Devon 
Show at Exeter and at the North Devon Show at Barnstaple ; 
since then the successes of his son Mr. James Davy, at the 
Royal Shows, at the Taunton, at the Devon Show at Exeter, 
at the Bath and West of England, and at Barnstaple, are well 
known ; and are doubtless attributable to the unprejudiced 
manner in which he has occasionally availed himself of oppor- 
tunities of infusing fresh but equalhj pure blood (which is a 
sine (]ud nort), thus avoiding the evils of breeding in and in too 
closely. This, however, is approaching disputed ground, and 
it is undesirable to pursue the subject further. The Flitton herd 
gained its first laurels in the early days of the Royal Society's 
shows, viz., at Oxford, where Oxford (89), who had been previ- 
ously sold to Mr. Paull, gained the first prize. He was a son of 
Forester (46), and on the dam's side was solely descended from 
prize cows bred by the late Mr. Davy. A yearling heifer gained 
the first prize at the Rojal Agricultural Show at Bristol. Nelson 
(83) gained the best prize at Barnstaple, and the second at the 
Royal Show at Windsor. Napoleon 3rd (464) gained a prize at 
