710 = 444 
Pastoral Husbandry. 
of them often realising as much as 40Z. each, thus showing ver 
early maturity. The breeding heifers are put to the bull i; 
July or August, at 20 to 26 months old, and are kept quit 
plainly, or they would become too fat. 
A Hereford cow and calf are sometimes allowed to ru 
together from 12 to 15 months, both being highly fed, and sol 
together for beef at as much as 30Z. each. 
Devon breed of The Devon breed of cattle has been cultivated for a very Ion 
cattle. period in the county from which it takes its name, and upo 
the somewhat poor and hilly land of that county it thriv( 
• better, probably, than larger breeds would do. 
Devons are kept to some extent for dairy purposes, but thei 
special merit is for the production of somewhat small carcassf 
of very prime beef. They aie always red in colour, though 
varying shades ; when fat, they handle particularly firm. A 
extraordinary ox of this breed, exhibited by Mr. Kidner at th 
great Christmas Fat Cattle Show in 1876, won the champi 
prize, as the best animal of any breed in the exhibition. 
Influence of Sheep are very much affected by the influence of climate. 
climate upon rj,^^ beautiful South Down, which thrives so well on tt 
811661"*. , • 
closely cropped herbage in the mild and dry climate of th 
south-east of England, if transferred to the north midlan 
counties, becomes in the course of one or two generations, quit 
a different type of sheep. The same principle holds good t 
some extent with all the breeds of sheep, a change of localit 
somewhat altering their type. Generally speaking, the nati\ 
sheep of a district have special qualities, the results of climati 
influence, which render them, when improved by careful selei 
tion, or by crossing with some other breed, more profitable I 
keep than any totally different race. 
The breeding and feeding of sheep have received great an 
special attention in England. The high price of wool whic 
ruled in past years, partly in consequence of the scarcity of cotto 
resulting from the American Civil War, gave a great stimuli 
to the manufacture of fabrics wholly or partially of wool ; an 
the increased demand for the best qualities of mutton, an artic 
which is less influenced than beef by foreign importations, hi 
combined with the greater consumption of wool to give a gre; 
stimulus to sheep-farming. 
The production The greatly increased importations of wool from Austral 
mu«o°n ^^'^ New Zealand have, however, now considerably reduced tl 
price of home-grown wool. It was formerly thought that we ha 
a monopoly of the production of the best long wool, and that 
could not be grown elsewhere ; but a large number of rams ( 
our best long-wooUed breeds have been exported to the Ant 
podes, and the wool from their progeny is coming back equa 
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