American Improved Devons.
The first importation of improved North Devons into this country was in 1817. Mr. Coke, then Earl of Leicester, presented to Mr. Robert Patterson, of Baltimore, Md., six heifers and one bull, Taurus (320). Taurus was bred by Mr. Denny, a tenant of Mr. Coke, then Earl of Leicester, who paid fifty guineas for him. His dam, in 1820, made thirteen pounds of butter per week. Three of these heifers Mr. Patterson gave to his father-in-law, Mr. Richard Caton, the other three he gave to his father, Mr. William Patterson; they were all bred to Taurus. In 1835, Mr. George Patterson came in possession of the herd of his father, Mr. William Patterson, and, in 1836, imported the bull Anchises (140), for a cross, from one of the best dairies in Devonshire; he afterward imported Eclipse (191); in 1846, Herod (214), and in 1852, Norfolk (266). By comparing the records the fact is apparent, that the pedigree of animals dates further back in this country than in England. Thus the bull Taurus (320), was calved in 1816, and imported in 1817, when a yearling, by Mr. Robert Patterson, of Md.; Holkham (215), calved 1819; the cow Fancy (709), calved 1818, and Strawberry 1st (1062), calved 1819. While the oldest record of English pedigrees is the bull Forester (46), calved in 1827, and Hundred Guineas (56), calved in 1837; the cows Flower (187), calved in 1820, Countess (77), in 1828, Curly (92), and Pretty Maid (364), were calved in 1830. Messrs. S. & L. Hurlbut, of Winchester, Conn., commenced their herd in 1819, from a pair procured of Mr. Patterson, Holkham (115), and Fancy (709), with additions from the same source every few years. In 1850 they imported Albert (2), whose progeny has stood high in the country, and received more premiums than the progeny of any other bull lately imported. Beauty (523), bred by Mr. Hurlbut, in 1836, from Fancy (709), and Exchange (197), produced sixteen pounds of butter per week, in June, 1850. Mr. Coleman, says, in his European Agriculture, "the most productive cow in butter, which I have found, was a North Devon, which, for several weeks in succession, without extra feed, produced twenty-one pounds of butter per week. The character of the owner places the fact beyond a doubt."
Mr. L. F. Allen, of Black Rock, N. Y., commenced breeding in 1835, from stock obtained from the Hon. James L. King, of New York, whose father imported them about the year 1819, from the herd of the Earl of Leicester; in 1842 he added to his herd from Mr. Patterson's stock. In 1844 the Massachusetts Society for the Promotion of Agriculture imported four cows and one bull, Bloomfield (372), from the Earl of Leicester. They were boarded and bred for the Society on the farm of Elias Phiney, of Lexington, till his death, the object being to present a pair to each of the County Societies in the State. In 1848, Mr. C. S. Wainwright, of Rhinebeck, N. Y., commenced importing and breeding his herd; his first importation was the bull Megunticook (251), and the cows Nonpareil (924), and Helena (774); Helena gave as high as twenty-two quarts of milk per day, and made fifteen pounds of butter per week. In 1851 he imported May Boy (71), whose granddam, Old May Flower, made over seventeen pounds of butter per week. In 1853, Mr. George Vail, of Troy, N. Y., imported one bull and two heifers from the herds of Mr. Davy and the Earl of Leicester. In 1850 and '52, Col. L. G. Morris, of New York, imported animals from the herds of the Earl of Leicester, the Messrs. Quartly and John Ayer Thomas. Abijah Catlin, of Conn., imported in 1851, Rubens (116), and two heifers. Many others have imported animals equally meritorious, among whom may be mentioned, Ambrose Stevens, of Batavia, N. Y., E. G. Faile, West Farms, N. Y., R. Linsley, West Meriden, Conn., R. W. Sanford, Orwell, Vt., E. P. Beck, Sheldon, N. Y., and R. H. Van Rensselaer, of Morris, N. Y. Importations have occurred almost annually up to the present year. These importations, with many others not mentioned, are sufficient to form the basis of a superior race of Devons in America, not excelled by those in any other country.
Devon Herd Book.
The First Herd Book of the Devons was published in 1851, by John Tanner Davy, of Rose Ash, near Southmolton, Devon, England. The pedigrees of 132 bulls and 483 cows, in all 615 animals, were recorded; all bred in England, and contributed by thirty-seven different breeders.
The second volume, published in 1854, contained the pedigrees of 221 bulls and 657 cows, 837 animals in all; and was edited by Mr. Davy, in England, and Sanford Howard, in America, comprising animals bred and owned in both countries, sixty breeders contributing in England, and eighteen in America.
The third volume was published in 1859, on both sides of the Atlantic, by Messrs. Davy and Howard, independent of each other, Mr. Davy's third volume recorded 204 bulls and 609 cows, in all 810 pedigrees, from forty-one different herds in England, and eight in America. Mr. Howard's recorded 258 bulls and 399 cows, in all 657 pedigrees, from eighty-four different herds, and all from America.
The whole number recorded to the end of Howard's third volume is 2150 animals, comprising 611 bulls, and 1539 cows.
American Devon Herd Book.
The present work, the first volume of the American Devon Herd Book, published in March, 1863, under the direction of the Association of Breeders of Thorough-Bred Neat Stock, was commenced about two years since. It has progressed amid many discouraging circumstances, to say nothing of the jealousy occasioned by the locality of its origin; and has gradually won upon public confidence till the present time. It has been the design of the Committee on Devon pedigrees to perfect a Devon Herd Book that would meet the wants of all American Breeders of Devon cattle. To accomplish this they have been untiring in their labors, sparing no pains to thoroughly investigate each pedigree; and have decided upon each, according to the facts received from the testimony given. While some have been rejected, others have been deferred till more light can be given to prove their purity of blood, which may be done in season for the second volume. How far the Committee have accomplished their designs the present volume will show for itself. It is a relief, however, to the Committee to know, that the errors which may occur, can be corrected in future volumes, or the present volume can be perfected and republished. It was also designed to make this the first of a series of volumes, to be published once in four years, or as often as the wants of the Devon breeders demand; and that would be worthy of the title of the American Devon Herd Book, and receive the universal patronage of all the Breeders of Devon Stock in America.