622 
Repofi on ilie Cattle Exhibited at Windsor. 
The Devon is reasonably regarded as one of the oldest of 
our distinct breeds of cattle. By unconnected scraps of evi- 
dence found outside agricultural annals, the existence of a 
race of red cattle in the West of England, far away in the back 
centuries, seems clearly enough established, and much pro- 
bability, if not some direct proof, connects our present breed 
with that ancient race. Indeed it is scarcely possible to doubt 
that the red cattle casually mentioned in ancient documents in 
connection with the south-west districts of England have left 
their prevailing colour and no doubt many of their characteristics 
— the type being very strongly pronounced — and that whilst 
the general characteristics of that type remain, special properties 
have been greatly improved by modern breeding. Longevity 
and fruitfulness appear to belong to the Devons in an ex- 
traordinary degree, and whilst their primary excellence is as a 
beef breed, their dairy properties are capable of very profitable 
development. 
George CuUey — whose Observations on Live Stock first ap- 
peared in 1786, a second and enlarged edition being printed in 
1794, and reprints issued in 1803 and 1807 — states, on the 
authority of " the ingenious and intelligent Mr. Mure, agent to 
Lord Dacre, who lately made an agricultural tour through the 
greatest part of England,"' that " the Devonshire cattle are said 
to be found in the greatest purity and of the best kind in the 
vicinity of Barnstaple." On the same authority he adds : — 
" These are of a liigli red colour (if any wliite spots, they reckon the 
breed impure, particularly if those spots run into one another), with a light- 
dun ring round the eye, and the muzzle of the same colour ; fine in the 
bone, clean in the neck, horns of a medium length bent upwards, thin faced 
and line in the chops, wide in the hips, a tolerable barrel, but rather flat on 
the sides, tail small and set on very high. They are thin-skinned and silky 
in handling, feed at an early age, or arrive at maturity sooner than most 
other breeds. They are well fitted for draught, both as to hardiness and quick 
movement, their shoulder-points being beautifully fitted for the braham or 
collar." 
From the foregoing description of the Devons as " rather 
flat on the sides," we are bound to infer that considerable im- 
jorovement has been effected by their breeders since this account 
was written, about a hundred years ago ; although Vancouver, 
in the year 1808, wrote that the Devons were then declining in 
their general standard of excellence and in number — a state- 
ment suggestive of fluctuations, sunnier days of the Devons in 
former years, possibly in former centuries, a falling-off in the 
energies of breeders, and consequent degeneracy of their cattle, 
and a revival of energy and merit, in breeders and cattle 
