1884 .] 
AMEEIOA^r AGEIOULTUEIST. 
541 
Connecticut Ked Cattle—Good Oxen. 
In the early settlement of New England, the 
cattle of the colonists came from the south of 
England and were largely of the South Devon 
blood. They were uniformily reddish, coarser boned 
than the North Devons, and of more variety in 
their shades of color. Besides, they were not bred 
pure, yet the red color prevailed and has ever 
since been the predominant color. It is possible, 
as Mr. Allen suggests in his “ American Cattle,” 
that some pure Devons were imported into New 
England in the previous century, of which we have 
now no record, but more likely that care in breed¬ 
ing the South Devons, which were common, 
There certainly is a style about them which no 
other cattle have, and their advocates claim ex¬ 
traordinary docility. They are high strung and 
mettlesome, like thorough-bred borses, quick in 
their motions, fast walkers, not timorous, willing to 
pull “ for all they are worth,’’ patient, good 
feeders, and make the very best beef. This last 
quality depends of course more or less on the age 
of the ox. It therefore pays to work them a few 
years and turn them into beef, when there are oth¬ 
ers coming on. Still, a good yoke of Devon oxen 
will last and do hard work for many years, and 
at twelve or fourteen years old will fatten well and 
make better beef than common cattle several 
years younger. It is rather remarkable that a team 
portrait of a pair of five-year-old Devon oxen, 
raised in Litchfield Co., Connecticut, which Mr. 
Stewart Hartshorn, of New Jersey, has just pur¬ 
chased, and which our artist has met and sketched 
on their passage through this city. The engraving 
likewise presents a life picture of the Yankee boy, 
who accompanied the oxen, with his long whip, and 
a coil of rope loosely swung over his shoulder, 
like a Highlander’s plaid on his native heath. 
Provide Green Food for Poultry. 
Green food is fully as essential for poultry in win¬ 
ter as in summer. Their confinement to dry food 
developed their finer qualities. Soon after tha 
last war with Great Britain, noted cattle breeders 
of Baltimore imported some fine North Devon 
■—or rather well bred Devon cattle, and other im¬ 
portations continued to be made. It was not very 
long before several herds were established in Con¬ 
necticut, and they “nicked” so well with the 
“ nath 3 ” red cattle that the progeny of Devon 
bulls and native cows could hardly be distinguished 
from thoroughbreds. As a result the bulls of the 
Improved race were in demand and a great im¬ 
provement was noticeable. The color was brighter 
and more uniform, white noses and white switches 
predominated, and the animals had better forms 
for beef, while their milking qualities were, to say 
the least, unimpaired. 
The great hold which the breed had and has 
upon the heart of the Connecticut farmer rests 
upon-the style and excellence of the working oxen. 
of oxen which will walk off on the road four miles 
an hour, or trot with a wagon like a pair of 
horses, will draw a plow in rough stony land 
slowly and carefully, being watchful when it 
strikes a stone or is “ snagged” in a root, not to 
jerk, or throw their full weight upon it unless so 
directed, they as it were, trying to ease the plow 
over obstacles. In this respect good oxen seem to 
have more sense than ordinary horses, proverbial 
as the latter are for “horse-sense.” 
Breaking steers is the Connecticut boy’s pastime 
and pride. He often begins with calves at six 
months old, yokes them and has them trained not 
only to “ come up!” “ gee!” “haw !” and “back!” 
but to drive without the yoke, single and double, 
sometimes to kneel, and to lie down. The steers 
are fit for some kinds of light service at three, efll- 
cient at four, and in perfection as oxen at five. 
The engraving which we present is an accurate 
during the continuance of cold weather goes far to 
account for the scarcity of eggs at that season of 
the year. Fresh winter eggs are always in demand 
and bring a good price in every market. Hens, 
like cows, should be producers as well as consumers 
during the cold months of winter. Farmers, as 
well as fanciers, should have a supply of green 
food safely stored away for the winter use 
of the poultry. Fowls are not very par¬ 
ticular as to the kind ; they readily eat celery, 
tops of onions, turnips, etc.; lettuce, cabbage, 
and apples also are relished. If such supplies have 
to be purchased, it is cheaper to buy one or two 
hundred heads of cabbages of second quality, 
which can be had at a low figure in autumn or 
early in the season. These should be delivered 
with their roots, and buried up to the head in sand 
in the cellar. Hang a head in some convenient 
place in the house where the fowls can pick at it. 
A TOKE OF DEVON OXEN. 
Brawn {by Edwin Forbes) and Engraved for the American Agriculturist. 
