138 ON THE AYRSHIRE BREED OF CATTLE. 



Shoulder-blades should be thin where they meet at the top ; 



Let her brisket be light, nor resemble a crop ; 



Her fore-part recede like the lash of a whiji, 



And strongly resemble the bow of a ship ; 



Her back short and straight, witli the spine well detined, 



Especially where back, neck, and shoulders are joined; 



Her ribs short and arched, like the ribs of a barge ; 



Body deej) at the flanks, and milk-veins full and large ; 



Pelvis long, broad, and straight, and in some measure Hat ; 



Hock-bones wide apart and not bearing much fat ; 



Her thighs deep and broad, neither rounded nor flat ; 



Her tail long and fine and joined square with her back ; 



Milk-vessel caj^acious, and forwai-d extending, 



The hinder part broad and to body fast pending ; 



The sole of her udder should just form a plane, 



And all the four teats equal thickness attain ; 



Tlieir length not exceeding two inches or three ; 



They should hang to the earth perpendicularly ; 



Their distance apart, when they're viewed from behind. 



Will include about half of the udder you'll find ; 



And when viewed from the side, they will have at each end 



As much of the udder as 'tween them is penned ; 



Her legs should be short and bones fine and clean, 



The i^oints of the latter being quite firm and keen ; 



Skin soft and elastic as the cushions of air. 



And covered all over with short woolly hair ; 



The colours preferred are confined to a few, 



Either brown and white checkered or all lu'own will do ; 



The M'eight of the animal leaving the stall, 



bhould be about five hundred sinking offal. 



Such are the points of the Ayrshire as they were formerly 

 considered, and the scale has changed little up to the present 

 day. The arrangement is judicious in most respects, all the 

 points being bestowed upon what may be termed the local 

 indications of milk. The dairyman seems thoroughly to under- 

 stand the essential features which betoken milk-giving propen- 

 sities, caters for them, and fixes them accordingly. 



Breeding, Rearing, and General 3[anagement of Stock. 



The Ayrshire dairy farmers are very particular in the breeding 

 of their cattle. In order to secure the milking-properties as far 

 as possible, they select a bull possessing so much of the feminine 

 aspect as pertains to the neck, head, and forequarters ; having 

 also sufticient breadth between the hocks and fulness in the 

 Hanks. They prefer that the scrotum be white ; indeed, so much 

 attention is paid to this point, that many breeders would reject 

 an animal if the part in question were of any other colour. Wlien 

 a bull is selected from a herd, other than that in which he is 

 required to serve, great care is taken that he be descended from 

 a stock noted for its milking qualities, independent of the virtues 

 which he himself possesses. The purchaser satisfies himself that 

 the mother of the bull was a strong, profitable cow, for he knows 



