UNGULATES. 
170 
Devons. 
Herefords. 
Longhorns. 
the limbs slender. The colour of the skin is yellowish orange, and the prevailing 
tint of the hair reddish-brown, more or less mixed with white. 
The rich red soil of Devonshire is tenanted by a breed of cattle 
readily distinguished by the deep red colour of their hair. They 
have orange-yellow skins and fine tapering horns. Mr. Low describes them as 
“of a light and graceful form, agile, and suited for active labour. They fatten 
with sufficient facility in good pastures, and in a temperate climate; but 
they are inferior in hardiness and the power of subsisting on scanty herb¬ 
age to the mountain cattle of Scotland and Wales.” The cows are relatively 
small, and their yield of milk not great, although excellent in quality and rich 
in cream. 
Omitting mention of the Sussex and Glamorganshire breeds, as 
being of minor importance, we pass on to the well-known Herefords, 
easily recognised by their large size, white faces, and dark red or reddish brown 
colour, marked more or less with white on the back and under-parts. Mr. Low 
considers this breed remotely related to the Devon; and it exhibits the same 
inferiority in the size of the cows, and a similar deficiency in the yield of milk. 
The breed is, however, an excellent one for fattening, and is hence in much favour 
in the West of England. 
The longhorned breed, which is likewise from the West of 
England and is also largely reared in Ireland, is one which has of 
late years steadily declined in favour in this country. The original breed of long¬ 
horns was ’subject to considerable variation in size; but the prevailing colour of 
the hair was either black or brown, with a white stripe down the middle of the 
back, and more or less white on the body. The hair was abundant and the skin 
thick and dark. The long horns generally curved downwards at the tips; but in 
southern and eastern England they often turned up. Ultimately great improve¬ 
ments were effected in the breed, and the knowledge thus acquired paved the way 
for the gradual development of the shorthorns, by which the longhorns have been 
so largely supplanted. 
The shorthorn breed was originally an East Anglian race of 
cattle, but was modified into its present perfection in Durham, whence 
it is often known by the name of Durham shorthorn. The illustration on p. 167 
represents an ox of the best strain of this breed. In these animals the height of 
the body is comparatively low, but there is great depth, and the chest, back, and 
loins are remarkable for their width. The skin is light-coloured, and the hair 
either reddish brown or white, or a mixture of the two, or the well-known straw¬ 
berry colour. The muzzle should be flesh-coloured; and the horns are short, 
curving inwards, light in colour, and frequently somewhat compressed. The skin 
is soft and yielding, and the general form of the body square and massive, with 
upright shoulders and roomy hind-quarters. The great advantages of the short¬ 
horns are that they are hardy and good-tempered animals, of large size and 
eminently distinguished by the rapidity with which they reach maturity of flesh 
and muscle. Although inferior in their yield of milk to the Suffolk and Ayrshire 
breeds, shorthorns are now more widely spread over England, both as dairy and 
fatting cattle, than any other kind. 
Shorthorns. 
