10 
DEVON CATTLE. 
ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE. 
DEVON CATTLE. 
This valuable and interesting race of animals, 
in their purity, are but little understood in the 
United States. The fine red cattle of New Eng¬ 
land, a class almost sufficiently distinguished to 
warrant their assuming a local cognomen of their 
own, are supposed by many tube descended from 
the ancient Devons, so near do they resemble 
them in many valuable characteristics; and no 
doubt this opinion gathers weight from the fact, 
that the first settlers of Plymouth, in Massa¬ 
chusetts, and the adjacent country, sailed from 
Devonshire, in England, from which it is con¬ 
cluded that the Devons were the original stock 
brought out with those early adventurers. This, 
however, is but mere inference, as the Devons, in 
their purity, are not widely spread through all 
Devonshire. Still the best native cattle of New 
England show evident marks of consanguinity 
with them ; and we may at least suppose, that 
from the many importations of valuable foreign 
stock made from the counties of Hereford and 
Devon, within the last fifty years, the best New 
England cattle have obtained a strong dash of 
those valuable breeds. Indeed, the impression 
is almost universal among those not quite well 
informed in ihe matter, that red cattle, generally, 
are Devons, although they engross all manner of 
style, fashion, and quality. Than such vague 
supposition, nothing can be more untrue; and all 
this “ public opinion,” or “ indefinite notion ,” to 
the contrary, the true North Devon is as distinct 
in his style and character- as any race of neat 
cattle whatever. 
Origin.— The Devon is styled by some of the 
best English cattle authors as an aboriginal breed, 
and is supposed to be a race as old as the Roman 
invasion of that island, and from the earliest 
dates, the clean-limbed red cattle of Devon and 
Cornwall have been celebrated in British annals. 
For the past century, since the general improve¬ 
ment of their agriculture has attracted the atten¬ 
tion of the English nation, the peculiar ancient 
breeds of cattle have received especial care. 
Among these, the Devons have been conspicu¬ 
ous ; and skilful breeders, selecting from the 
best forms and blood of this beautiful race, by 
the application of correct and scientific rules, 
have brought them to a perfection excelled by 
no other class of British cattle. 
Here let me digress for a moment to remark 
upon the strange and absurd notion, for it is 
nothing but a notion, that so many of our Ameri¬ 
cans have imbibed regarding improvement in 
breeding domestic animals. It seems to be sup¬ 
posed by these calculating people, that all which 
is excellent to a high degree in the present im¬ 
proved farm stock, has been brought in by a 
“ foreign cross,” or by the peculiar hocus pocus of 
some “wizard” breeder, through whose magic 
wand these wonderful improving influences were 
brought about, instead of the practice of certain, 
true, and inalienable physiological principles, 
which alone constitute improvement. To those 
simply, and to the pure blood only of the race 
under process of improvement, have the master 
spirits in breeding succeeded to a triumphant 
degree. It is high time that all this “twaddle,” 
for I can call it by no more appropriate name, 
about “ foreign crosses” was exploded by persons 
pretending to any sense. Why, where existed 
the great excellence of these “ foreign” animals 
that men so successfully used in this “ happy 
cross;” and where are now these immaculate 
paragons that so improved our present peerless 
Devons, Short-Horns, and others?—or do they go 
upon the wonderfully sapient principle that two 
defective animals of different blood and breeds, 
when crossed upon each other, will produce an ex¬ 
cellence in figure and quality superior to both, and 
which the proper cultivation of neither, in itself, 
would produce ? Out upon such absurdity ! We 
have no evidence of highly valuable and perma¬ 
nent improvement being made upon any breed of 
domestic animals by the use of these, which 
were not “native, and to the manner bora,” unless 
of a race superior to the one sought to be im¬ 
proved. Such were the progenitors of the mag¬ 
nificent Short-Horns of Northumberland, Durham, 
and Yorkshire; the massive and stately Long- 
Horns of Lancashire, and of Ireland; and the 
beautiful, active, and vigorous Devons of the south 
of England, long before those eminent breeders, 
the Collings, the Bake wells, or the Somervilles, 
were known ; and in no instance have “ foreign 
crosses” with inferior breeds been adopted, how¬ 
ever plausible they appeared at first, but, in the 
long run, have been condemned and discarded by 
all thoroughly scientific breeders. 1 do not pre¬ 
tend to say, that, for certain purposes, domestic 
animals may not be mixed in blood to great bene¬ 
fit for adaptation to certain soils, climates, and 
purposes. This they most certainly can; but 
with the present imposing array of thorough-bred 
animals before us, none but a desperate and clear¬ 
ly Utopian advocate of improvement will attempt 
to create a new and a standard breed, by sinking 
either of the present highly established races into 
one of a baser or degraded kind. It should, there¬ 
fore, be the aim of every breeder to level up his 
domestic stock as near perfection in the peculiar 
characteristics required as possible, without seek¬ 
ing to degrade that which is already good by an 
association with downward tendencies. But to 
the Devons. 
It is not my present purpose to discuss how, or 
by what means the improvement of these, or any 
other of our valuable domestic animals have been 
made by the skill of their breeders—this belongs 
to an essay of another kind ; suffice it to say, it has 
been done in this ancient race to a degree certain¬ 
ly equal to that attained with any breed whatever, 
and without resort to any other blood, and it may 
without hesitation be asserted, that no race ot 
animals in existence show more distinct, perma¬ 
nent, and long-established blood-like qualities 
than the Devon. 
Description. —In size the Devon is medium, 
and compares with the native cattle of our coun¬ 
try when lean; but with a greater aptitude to 
take on flesh when fed, and a much higher de- 
