South Devon History from Brit Livestock 1911

Devon from 1911 Brit Breed LIvestock

History Kerry n Dexter from Brit Breeds Livestock

Kerry n Dexter from British Breeds of Livestock

Clotted Cream

I get a request for a recipe for Clotted Cream a lot. As this is a traditional dairy product of the south west of England (Cornwall and Devon) and the American Milking Devon is the purest example of what would have been in the area Once Upon a Time, I thought I'd include it in a post here.

Start with the freshest Devon raw milk (raw is important here or this does not work). Pour into a pan about 6" deep. Put into a cool place until the cream rises to the top. This may take 10-20 hours.

Place pan in a water bath on stove. Gradually increase the temperature of the milk to about 175 degrees or so. The temperature is not as important as the ring around the edge and the bubbles or wrinkle that will show on the surface of the milk. This may take 45 minutes to an hour.

Cool immediately. Cream will thicken as it cools. Remove the cream with a slotted spoon.

Enjoy with Cornish Splits or scones and a wild berry jam.

The old pans held 6-7 (American) quarts of milk or cream. They were 15" in diameter at the top and 11" diameter at the bottom and 7" high.

Some people skim off the cream from the milk setting overnight and collect in a pan (or pudding basin of this dimention) and continue with the recipe. It will taste cooked or carmelized (some say burnt).

The best thing there is!

Herens bull

Here is a cut and paste of a Herens bull from Switzerland. This is also a genetic cousin of the Kerry cow. I guess you can say the genetic root of the "celtic cow" may have started with the genetic root of the Celtic people?

From the hand holding the bull, I'd think they aren't overly large animals. I grabbed this late at night once a while back. Thought I'd ad it to the mix for those researching the genetic make up of the celtic cattle breeds.


It would also be nice to see if someone can find more about the two migrations of people from Ireland and Kernowek (Cornwall) to Brittany and see if there is anything more about the influence of the Britonne and Irish breeds.

Also the Devon may be mixed up in this due to the celtic people from there being driven back into Cornwall and then out some time ago. Again, rusty history rattling in the back of my head today, but worth looking into how that breed went into influencing the other breeds or back the other way...

In an old book I have West Country Stories by A.L. Rowse he notes (pg 103) "The deer-parks were a very important part in the economy of the Duchy. When it was constituted there were seven: Kerrybullock (now Stokeclimsland), with 150 deer....With movement for enclosure that grew strong in the sixteenth century, Henry VIII decided to dispark the Duchy parks and turn them more profitably into pasture. It is the site of Kerrybullock Park, in the parish of Stokeclimsland, that the large Duchy farm now occupies..."

Laurence Gilley has scanned books on the M. Devon breed for the Milking Devon web site. You can run through some of them. One notes that the Cornish version of the M. Devon is not so pure and has influences of other breeds. I'd have to go back and see which one it was. Not very kind about the Cornish influence, but British history has never been overly kind toward any Celtic people, let it be Ireland or Cornwall.

Dexer Kerry Alderney and Brettone cow comparason

Again, some phtots from Patti Adams regarding the comparason of phenotypes of Dexter, Kerry, Alderney and Breton cattle.

Alderney Cow Dexter Cow Bretone Cow

Bretonne Cow Kerry Cow Dexter Cow

Comparing Dexter Kerry and Alderney bulls

Images Patti forwarded in a comparason of Dexter, Kerry and Alderney cattle. We will also explore Brettone in this mix with the cows in the next post. Just a phenotype comparison. Also note the influence of the Alderney in the development of another popular dairy breed, the Ayrshire...

Dexter Bull - Cool Hand Luke of Dog Run (Judy Sponaugle's previous herd bull):

Alderney Bull:

Kerry Bull: Kelmscott's Seamus:

North Oaks Farm

It is about time I put some of Patti Adam's research on this blog. She is the one to draw my attention to North Oaks Farm and James J. Hill.

Below are some of the links to information about him. He never registered any of his Kerry cattle with the American Association. Charles Plumb did note MN and MO breeders of notable Kerry cattle and they do not show up in the herd book or bulletins. Mr. Hill also had a number of other breeds of cattle.

http://www.jjhill.org/history/photo_results.cfm?Simple=True&SearchTerm=North+Oaks+farm&GO=Go&chk_jj=1&offset=1

There is also a book on Google Books called "Lessons of My Farm" from 1862. She sent me scans of pages of interest that suggested a link to the Alderney Cattle in the development of Irish breeds. It is in word and I will try to convert to a format the blog likes. That or I will go back and find it and provide to the link.

m. denvon books

Lawrence found these on googlebooks
The Devon Herd Book vol 5, 1869, by John Tanner Davieshttp://books.google.com/books?id=6UEDAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover
The Devon Herd Book vol 6, 1875, by John Tanner Davieshttp://books.google.com/books?id=8kEDAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover
The Devon Herd Book, vol 7, 1878, by John Tanner Davieshttp://books.google.com/books?id=PEIDAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover
The Devon Herd Book, vol 8, 1881, by John Tanner Davieshttp://books.google.com/books?id=UEIDAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover

This is an excellent book. This is one of the ones people cut pictures out of an sold for a fortune. Jerks!
The Study of Breeds in America Thomas Shaw, 1900http://books.google.com/books?id=yclEAAAAIAAJ&printsec=titlepage

Also, see Lawrence's CafePress store for a copy of m.Devon herdbooks.

--Lawrence GilleyP O Box 277, Deansboro, NY 13328Website http://personalpages.tds.net/~lcgilley
My CafePress store http://www.cafepress.com/gilley

American Devon Record, Vol 1, 1881

Lawrence has added two more historical documents to the website taken from the
American Devon Record, Vol 1, 1881.

See the links at the bottom of the history page
http://www.milkingdevons.org/hist.html

NY Devon Breeders from American Devon Record

Hello everyone. Yes, a while since I posted again. Winter. That cruel cold word brings more chores in the beginning. Just starting to get into the swing of winter chores. I will actually have more time to post after this holiday stuff.

Lawrence Gilley has been doing quite a bit of posting of Milking Devon historical stuff on his personal page and on the Milking Devon web site. Below is a post he sent me back in the beginning of November to include on the Blog...

I have prepared a list of Devon breeders in New York State from the registrations recorded in volumes one and two of the American Devon Record and arranged them by county.

The columns of figures are for:
bulls in vol I;
bulls in vol II;
cows in vol I;
cows in vol II.

There are 198 breeders in total.
There are 144 breeders in volume I.
There are 88 breeders in volume II.
Although volume I is dated 1881, it covers quite a few years before its publication date.

You can retrieve the list at: --http://personalpages.tds.net/~lcgilley/nybreeders1882.pdf

I will try to get up to date on other postings of historical stuff over the next couple of days. We shall see.

old NY Kerry Breeders and other bits

Here is the list of NY Kerry Cattle Breeders and some of my notes. This is a note I found on the desk under my Dairy Plant Reports that I need to file (and some to mail). If anyone has information on any of these people, let me know. I'd love to fill in some of the blanks. I'll give you the credit...

G.M. Carnochan - NY,NY
Whitelaw Reid - Purchase, NY ~Tribune Editor~ Had a neice nammed Ella?
F.E. Stevens - Glens Falls, NY ~I've included a lot on him. Still looking for his cattle. Did grab Dutch Belted herdbooks from UMASS library. Copied his information. Would like photo and info on his Kerry Cattle.
W. Shriner - Hector, NY
F.S. Peer - Ithaca, NY ~importer
Herbert Livingston Satterlee - NY, NY ~lawyer. wife Louis. His dob c. 1863 in NYC. Lived on E. 36th Street in Manhattan.
Robert R. Street - Falconer, NY
Orin G. Predmore - Valois, NY ~Ovid, Seneca County. 1930 census lived on Rock River Road. Farmer. #farm schedule 83. 1920 census Hector township.
Henry Ambler - Chatham, NY ~not in herd book. Was noted as having one of the largest NY herds. Also had Jersey cattle. House is currently a restaraunt.


Also noted is a CA breeder F.J. Rodgers - San Francisco, CA >1910. He bought a lot of cattle as noted in the transfers of cattle.

Anyone have info about the Elmendorf sale of Kerry Cattle? Rumor has it the Peerless herd may have some of them. Also Charles Plumb noted a number of unregistered herds in MN and MO. Anyone remember any old ag publications from those regions that may have noted herds or know of "Irish Districts" in those states where they may have been.

Neither Ohio State nor UMASS Amherst has information on their herds. I have more on Ohio State only because I have the herdbook and bulletin. The only possible note about the UMASS cows is the mention of Black Cattle in an old TB/Brucellosis testing paper found by Special Archives there.

Charles Plumb by the way went to Stockbridge School of Agriculture. He seems to have been there when they had the Kerry Cattle (Stockbridge is a college at UMASS, Amherst). That may have been where he developed a love for this breed. I went there as well...

Been a Long Time

It has been a long time. I wanted to note work done by Judy Sponaugle, Laurence Gilley and others on history of their respective breeds, but I want to post something timely that I think is important for the future of breeds. I want to talk about breeding plans and the place of AI and ET in expanding numbers. I'll get back to other works on history later...

I am not against ET or AI. I believe the tools have their place. I repect the Milking Devon Association for their conservative stance on ET until the impact of their current rules and the consequences of ET could be studied. I am just a firm believer in a breeding plan and careful consideration of the impact of individuals on the population as a whole...

I want to give you a cut and paste "points concerning embryo transfer" that the AMDCA president Drew Conroy had regarding the ET policies for their organization. I think this is one of the most respectable heritage breed individuals with more integrity and love for the development of the devon (be it milking or otherwise)...

American Milking Devon Cattle Association's BackgroundInformation in conjunction with a member survey on EmbryoTransfer (ET) policies and procedures.

By Drew Conroy, AMDCA PresidentJune 29, 2007

Many breed associations similar in size to our have struggled with this very issue. My comments below are not meant to be persuasive, but rather provide some background information on theuse of Embryo Transfer and both positive attributes and areas of concern. Personally, I would like to see us allow EmbryoTransfer, but do it in a way that ensures the embryos are what they are supposed to be. For a more comprehensive overview of thetechnology, I would recommend reading Training Manual for EmbryoTransfer in Cattle, by George E. Seidel, Jr. and Sarah MooreSeidel, of the Animal Reproduction Laboratory, Colorado StateUniversity, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA. Published by the Foodand Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, as FAO ANIMALPRODUCTION AND HEALTH PAPER 77, which can be viewed athttp://www.fao.org/docrep/004/t0117e/t0117e00.htm Thoughts from:Don Bixby, of the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy would notrecommend that we disallow this practice. In fact, he stated, "Ifwe are allowing Artificial Insemination, there is a much greaterchance of concentrating the gene pool, through the fact that wehave not drawn many bulls, and the semen is readily accessible tomany members due to its low cost. Phil Sponenberg explained, "Embryo transfer is 'value neutral 'really, but can have a VERY bad downside in rare breeds ofnarrowing genetic variation on the female side of the equation.So, it is best if recipients are not purebred cows. And, likelyit is best to limit the numbers produced by an individual cow inany one year. Id do the same on the bull side, too, though. " Don Bixby has nothing against strong policies restricting itsuse, but he warned that this is not easy to do or get consensuson a policy within a breed association. The North American Devon Cattle Association has alreadyinterpreted our one year moratorium as a ban on ET, and perceivedour survey of the membership to be in some way construed to be"small in our thinking". Interesting reading and the author'smisinformation and opinions are quite malicious for anassociation trying to lure AMDCA members to join theirassociation. see:http://www.northamericandevon.com/info.html#AMDA. It is one ofthe highlighted items, on June 14", the fourth item down from thetop. Advantages of Embryo Transfer Technology for a breed such as theAmerican Milking Devon: There is little doubt that with small numbers of animals, as wehave in this breed, if you are trying to expand animal numbers,this can allow more rapid expansion. Our goal is to expand animalnumbers. Hopefully we can work so our breed is moved fromcritical to at least threatened, and maybe Watch or Recoveringstatus. We have not had a lot of growth. in animal numbers, andengaging technology will provide one tool to grow animal numbers.Also on the positive side the sale of embryos could allowbreeders in remote areas to have easier and cheaper access toAmerican Milking Devon Cattle, particularly the female side ofthe gene pool. The end result could be that people in areas wherethere are few of our cattle, could more easily access thegenetics and start their own herd. Embryo's can be shipped and moved much easier than live cattle.Embryos can be shipped as easily as straws of semen. More purebred cows and bulls on the ground would allow for moreselection based on traits individual breeders desire, and mightallow culling of genetically inferior animals, which I do notbelieve is happening at all, with the current high prices. Concerns in using Embryo Transfer include:If a few cows are used, and those cows generate a large number ofembryos you can create a genetic bottleneck. However, the samething is true for the use of semen, and even more so, as it is alot less costly than embryo transfer, which means more peoplewill likely adopt (or have already adopted) ArtificialInsemination versus Embryo Transfer. In the last few years we have had a few people buying up a numberof animals, which resulted in higher average prices for MilkingDevon Cattle than we have seen in the past. This rise in priceshas been welcomed by many, including myself. However, this is aclear example, of how a few people can affect a breed with smallnumbers of animals, in a short period of time. There maybe some need for disclosure that the cows were flushed.For genetic reasons, we would want buyers to know that a cowpurchased after flushing may have a greater than normal number ofoffspring in the population. There are also some concerns about the reproductive status of theanimals after being used as flush cows. I could find no datasaying that cows that are flushed are routinely less fertile, butin the process of flushing, there is the chance of damage to thereproductive tract, and the flush cows becoming overweight (asdry donor cows), which often leads to difficulty breeding. Thishappens in cattle left open for long periods that have not beenflushed. Recommendations, if members decide to support Embryo Transfer. There is a real need for documentation, that the embryos instraws are what they are supposed to be. The American EmbryoTransfer Association has clear rules for documenting thecollection of embryos, as well as protocols for theidentification and sale of embryos: view their website on theInternet at http://www.aeta.org/ for more information. They deferto breed associations about individual rules on genetic testingand so forth. Genetic testing of the sire and dam are required by manyassociations and the Dexter Cattle Association and other DairyBreed Associations require the DNA testing of offspring resultingfrom ET. If the embryos are not going to be immediately implanted intorecipient cows that the owner of the flushed cow controls, theinformation necessary for documentation on the embryo for laterregistration should also include: On the container of frozen embryos: identification of the organization that processed the embryos breed of embryo identification of the dam (sire optional) date on which the embryos were frozen identification number for the container number and stages of embryos in the containerOn the goblets and canes: cane and goblet numbers identification of the organization that processed the embryos date of cryopreservation identification of dam and sire breed number of embryos kind of packaging/indication of repackaging*The above recommendations come from Seidel and Seidel, Food andAgriculture Organization of the United Nations, FAO ANIMALPRODUCTION AND HEALTH PAPER 77, Chapter 16, Records. as cited inthe references. Given the above information, it would seem that at a minimum theassociation should likely require an embryo recovery certificate,which may also include: a) an embryo evaluation b) the date of cryopreservation or freezing of embryos, particularly if the resulting embryos are for sale. c) There may also be a need for embryo transfer documentation, if recipient cows are sold carrying embryos. There is also a need for similar testing for embryos as requiredby bulls for diseases prior to drawing semen, there is a similarneed for health testing of cows used as donors, according toNational Association of Animal Breeder standards. This willensure that the embryos meet the requirements ents forinternational sale and shipping, plus provide an assurance ofhealth of the embryos to the buyers. SummaryIn the case of small populations every animal counts and therecan be a benefit realized from Embryo Transfer, but it is not thecure fora small population, as genetic diversity is important aswell as animal numbers. There is the possibility of imposingrestrictions on the number of calves from each cow that could beregistered, as a way to minimize the possible effect that one cowhas on the population, but again, this limitation would besimilar to limiting the number of offspring allowed from a bullwho has been drawn and used for artificial insemination, whichthe association has not ever addressed. One of the problems with selection of traits such as for milkproduction within a breed, is that the real value of the breedmay lie in other characteristics that might be lost if there isincreased specialty selection. At this time we have no verifiableproduction information on milk production or progeny tests onbulls, so selection will not likely be as intensive as it mightbe in other breeds. In any case, embryo transfer would allowpossible inferior animals (for certain traits) to be propagatedat a rapid pace, possibly displacing other more geneticallysuperior animals for the same traits. Finally, the other challenge is that breeders with the bestintentions may not get a cow that flushes well, despite the costand efforts to do so. References:Phone Interview with Don Bixby, DVM, Technical Program Manager,American Livestock Breeds Conservancy (ALBC), Pittsboro, NorthCarolina, Monday June 11, 2007 Phone Interview with Marjorie Bender, Research and TechnicalDirector, American Livestock Breeds Conservancy (ALBC),Pittsboro, North Carolina, Monday, June 11, 2007 Phone Interview with Jeannette Beranger, ALBC Research andTechnical Program Manager American Livestock Breeds Conservancy(ALBC), Pittsboro, North Carolina, Monday, June 11, 2007Email Message from D. Phillip Sponenberg, DVM, PhD, Professor ofPathology and Genetics Department of Biomedical Sciences,Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine,Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA., June 20, 2007. George E. Seidel, Jr. and Sarah Moore Seidel, of the AnimalReproduction Laboratory, Colorado State University, Fort Collins,CO 80523, USA. Training Manual for Embryo Transfer in Cattle. FAOANIMAL PRODUCTION AND HEALTH PAPER 77, Viewed on the InternetJune 13 2007 at:http://www.fao.org/docrep/004/t0117e/t0117e00.htm