Cattle 1853 - Lewis Family Farm

20 CATTLE.
tail. If there is any seeming fault in the beast, it is that the sides
are a little too flat. It will appear, however/that this does not in-
terfere with feeding, while a deep, although somewhat flat chest is
best adapted for speed.
The two last ribs are particularly bold and prominent, leaving
room for the stomachs and other parts concerned in digestion to be
fully developed. The hips, or huckles, are high up, and on a level
with the back, whether the beast is fat or lean. The hind quarters,
or the space from the hip to the point of the rump, are particularly
long, and well filled up—a point of importance both for grazing and
working. It leaves room for flesh in the most valuable part, and indicates
much power behind, equally connected with strength and
speed. This is an improvement quite of modern date. The fullness
here, and the swelling out of the thigh below, are ofmuch more consequence
than the prominence offat which is so much admired on the rump of
many prize cattle.
The setting on of the tail is high ; on a level with the back ; rarely
much elevated or depressed^ This is another great point, as connected
with the perfection of the hind quarters. The tail itself is
long and small, and taper, with a round bunch of hair at the bottom.
The skin of the Devon, with his curly hair, is exceedingly mellow
and'elastic. Graziers know that there is not a more important point
than this. When the skin can be easily raisedfrom the hips, it shows
that there is room to set on fat below.
The skin is thin rather than thick. Its appearance of thickness
arises from the curly hair with which it is covered, and curly in proportion
to the condition and health of the animal. These curls run
like little ripples on water. Some of these cattle have the hair
smooth, but then it should be fine and soft. Those with curled
hair are more hardy, and fatten more kindly. The favorite color is
a blood red. This is supposed to indicate purity of breed ; but there
are many good cattle approaching almost to a dark bay. If the
eye is clear and good, and the skin mellow, the paler colors will bear
hard work, and fatten as well as others ; but a beast with pale hair,
and hard under the hand, and the eye dark and dead, will be a sluggish
worker, and an uprofitable feeder. Those of a yellow color are
said to be subject to diarrhoea, or scouring.
These are the principal points of a good Devon ox ; but he used
to be, perhaps is yet, a little too flat-sided, and the rump narrowed
too rapidly behind the hip bones ; there was too much space between
the hip bones and the last rib ; and he was too light for tenacious
and strong soils.
A selection from the most perfect animals of the true breed—the
bone still small and the neck fine, but the brisket deep and wide, and
down to the knees, and not an atom of flatness all over the side
these have improved the strength and bulk of the Devon ox, without
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