THE CULTIVATOR. 
41 
a slanting- direction on such land is, that the soil is not so likely to 
be washed down from the higher ground, as if the ridges were laid 
at right angles. Wherever circumstances will permit, however, the 
best direction is due north and south, by which the grain on both 
sides of the ridge enjoys nearly equal advantages from the influence 
of the sun.— Enc. Britanica. 
In ploughing relatively to season, it is well known, that clayey or 
tenacious soils should never be ploughed when wet; and that it is 
almost equally improper to let them become too dry ; especially if a 
crop is to be sown without a second ploughing. The state in which 
sucli lands should be ploughed is what is commonly indicated by the 
phrase “atween the wet and the dry,”—while the ground is slight¬ 
ly moist, mellow, and the least cohesive.— Enc. Ag. 
Cattle Husbandry. 
' MIDDLE HORNS—DEVON COW. 
“There are few things more remarkable about the Devonshire 
cattle than the comparative smallness of the cow. The bull is a 
great deal less than the ox, and the cow almost as much smaller 
than the bull. This, however, is of some advan'age, and ihe breed¬ 
ers are aware of it; for although it may not be necessary to have a 
large bull, and especially as those of any extraordinary size are sel¬ 
dom handsome in all their points, but somehow or other present 
coarseness or deformity, it is almost impossible to procure large and 
serviceable oxen, except from a somewhat roomy cow. Thes„ cows, 
however, although small, possess that roundness and projection of 
two or three of the last ribs, which make them actually more roomy 
than a careless examination of them would indicate. The cow is 
particularly distinguished for her full round clear eye, the gold co¬ 
loured circle round the eye, and the same colour prevailing on the 
inside skin of the ear. The countenance cheerful, the muzzle orange 
or yellow, but the rest of the face having no'hing of black, or even 
white about it. The jaws free from thickness, and the throat free 
from dewlap. The points of the back and the hind quarters differ¬ 
ent from those of other breeds, having more of roundness and beau¬ 
ty, and being free from most of those angles by which good milkers 
are sometimes distinguished.” 
QUALITIES OF THE DEVONS. 
“ Their qualities may be referred to three points ; their working, 
fattening and milking. 
“ Where the ground is not too heavy, the Devonshire oxen are un¬ 
rivalled at the plough. They have a quickness of action which no 
other breed can equal, and which very few horses exceed. They 
have also a degree of docility and goodness of temper, and also stout¬ 
ness and honesty of work, to which many teams of horses cannot 
pretend. Vancouver, in his survey of Devonshire, says, that it is a 
common day’s work on fallow land, for four steers to plough two 
acres with a double furrow plough. Four good Devon steers will do 
as much work in a field, or on the road, as any three horses, and in 
as quick, and often quicKer, time, although many farmers calculate 
two oxen as equal to one horse. The piincipal objection to the 
Devonshire oxen is, that they have not sufficient strength for tena¬ 
cious clayey soil: they will, however, exert their strength to the 
utmost, and stand many a dead pul 1 , which lew horses could be in¬ 
duced or forced to attempt. They are uniformly worked in yokes, 
and not in collars. Four oxen, or six growing steers. 
“ There is a peculiarity in driving the ox-team, which is very 
pleasing to the stranger, and the remembrance of which, connected 
with his early days, the native does not soon lose. A man and a 
boy attend each team ; the boy chants that which can scarcely be 
regarded as any distinct tune, but which is a very pleasing succes¬ 
sion of sounds, resembling the counter-tenor in the service of the 
cathedral. He sings away with unrivalled lungs, as he trudges 
along almost from morning till night, while every now and then the 
ploughman as he directs the movements of the team, puts in his 
lower notes, but in perfect concord. When the traveller stops in 
one of the Devonshire valleys, and hears this simple music from the 
drivers of the ploughs on the slope of the hill on either side, he 
experiences a pleasure which this operation of husbandry would 
scarcely be supposed to be capable of affording. This chanting is 
said to animate the oxen somewhat in the same way as the musical 
bells that are so prevalent in the same country. Certainly the oxen 
move along with an agility that would scarcely be expected from 
cattle: and the train may be watched along time without one harsh 
word being heard, or the goad or whip applied. The opponents of 
Vol. L F 
ox-husbandry should visit the valleys of North or South Devon, to 
see what this animal is capable of performing, and how he performs 
it. 
“The profit derived from the use of oxen in this district, arises 
from the activity to which they are trained, and which is unknown 
in any other part of the kingdom. During harvest time, and in 
catching weather, they are sometimes trotted along with the empty 
wagons, at the rate of six miles an hour, a degree of speed which 
no other ox but the Devon has been able to withstand. 
“They are usually taken into the work at about two years, or 
twenty-six months old, and they are worked till they are four, or 
five or six; they are then grazed, or kept on hay, and in ten or 
twelve months, and without any further trouble, they are fit for the. 
market. If the grass land is good, no corn, or cake, or turnips, are 
required for the first winter; but, of course, fora second winter 
these must be added. The grazier likes this breed best at five years 
old, and they will when usually taken from the plough, fetch as much 
money as at six. At eight or nine years, or older, they are rapidly 
declining in value. 
“Lard Somerville states, that after having been worked lightly on 
the hills for two years, they are bought at four years old by the til¬ 
lage farmer of the vales, and taken into hard work from four to six; 
and, what deserves consideration, an ox must thus be worked in 
order for him to attain his fullest size. If he his kept idle until he is 
five or six, he will invariably be stinted in his growth. At six he 
reaches his full stature, unless he is naturally disposed to be of more 
than ordinary size, and then he continues to grow for another half 
year. 
“ Their next quality is their disposition to fatten, and very few 
rival them here. They do not, indeed, attain the great weight of 
some breeds; but, in a given time, they acquire more flesh, and with 
less consumption of food, and their flesh is beautiful in its kind. It 
is of that mottled, marbled character, so pleasing to the eye, and to 
the taste. Some very satisfactory experiments have been made on 
this point. 
“ Mr. Carpenter a very intelligent farmer, informs us, that the 
Duke of Bedford had some prime Hereford oxen sent to his Tavi¬ 
stock estate in the month of April, and he ordered some Devons to 
be bought at the latter end of the same month. The Devons were 
not in so good condition as the Herefords when they were put to 
grass, and cost about £5 a head less than the Hereford; but at the 
latter end of December, when they were all sold to the butcher, the 
Devons were superior in fatness and weight. 
“ A more satisfactory experiment was made by the same noble¬ 
man. Six oxen were selected in Nov. 16, and fed until Dec. 10, 
the following year, and the following was the result: 
1st weight. 
cwl.qrs.lb. 
2d weight, 
cwt.qrs.lbs 
Gained. 
cwt qrs Ibsjstone. 
Oil 
cakes. 
lbs. 
Turnips 
lbs. 
Hay 
lbs. 
1 Hereford, 
17 0 1 
18 3 0 
1 2 27 
24 3 
2700 
487 
2 do 
18 1 0 
21 0 25 
2 3 25 
41 5 
432 
2712 
432 
3 Devon, 
14 1 7 
17 2 7 
3 1 0 
45 4 
433 
2668 
295 
4 do 
14 2 4 
1ft 1 0 
4 2 14 
61 6 
442 
2056 
442 
5 Susses, 
16 2 0 
19 3 0 
3 1 0 
45 4 
432 
2655 
392 
6 Leicester, 
15 2 14 
18 2 0 
2 3 14 
40 2 
434 
2652 
400 
“An experiment of the same nature was made, in order to com¬ 
pare the fattening properties of the Glamorgan with the Devon.— 
They were fed from Jan. 6 to Dec. 1, and the following was the 
result: 
1 First weight 
Sec. 
weight. 
Gained. 
[cwt. qrs. lbs. 
cwt. 
qrs. lbs. 
cwt. 
qrs. lbs 
or stone. 
1 Devon, - 
| 13 1 7 
17 
3 7 
4 
2 0 
63 i 
2 do - - - 
16 0 10 
20 
3 14 
4 
3 2 
67 
3 Glamorgan. - 
1 16 3 0 
16 
0 14 
3 
3 18 
54 6 I 
“ We are aware that experiments have been instituted with dif¬ 
ferent results. 
“For the dairy, the North Devons must be acknowledged to be 
inferior to several other breeds. Their milk is good, and yields 
more than average proportion of cream and butter;* but it is defi¬ 
nite difference in ihe richness of milk in oleaginous properties often 
amounts to one-third. The writer of this note tested the milk of the cows, 
about the same time, with the lacotmeter. The cream was found to vary 
from nine to fifteen per cent. 
