ON THE AYRSHIRE BREED OF CATTLE. 141 



portion of bay or mash with their straw and turnips. About 

 February the in-calf heifers are supplied with a little meal to 

 make good the drain of nourishment caused by the growth of the 

 calf. It is considered dangerous, however, to feed very heavily, 

 until a little while after calving ; then a more liberal diet is given, 

 nnd the young cow brought into full milk. 



Here a point crops up which has provoked much discussion in 

 agricultural circles, viz., as to whether it is more profitable to 

 have heifers in profit when they are between two and three years 

 old, or a year later. It is generally conceded, and experience 

 bears the theory out, that cows between two and three years of 

 age not only give more milk during the first season than those of 

 a more advanced age, but that they continue better milkers in 

 after years. The reason assigned for this is, that they become in 

 calf at a time more in accordance wuth the promptings of nature, 

 and that, therefore, the milk flows more copiously. HoM^ever, 

 bringing cattle into profit so young is thought by some to be 

 hurtful in stunting the size, and preventing them from getting a 

 desirable amount of bone ; while others, on the contrary, urge 

 that the extra diet which they receive when milking, develops 

 them quite as much as running free another summer upon a bare 

 moor. 



In some districts, dairy cattle are let out to men called "bowers " 

 for the season. These bowers either pay a fixed rent for each 

 cow in money, or deliver so much cheese at the end of the year, 

 as may be agreed upon. The farmer supplies pasture for the 

 summer months, and a regulated quantity of feeding-stuffs for 

 the winter ; the usual allowance being five or six tons of swede 

 and common turnips per cow, with 2| cwt. of bean-meal, and hay 

 and straw. The herd, with his family, performs all the necessary 

 labour in attending to and feeding the cattle, as well as the making 

 of cheese. The payment which the herd is called upon to make 

 depends much upon the quality of the pastures, the value of the 

 produce, &c., but the usual rates are L.ll to L.14 when paid in 

 money, and 3 to 4 cwts. of cheese when paid in kind. 



Produce of the Ayrshire. 



Enough has already been advanced in favour of the Ayrshire 

 as a milker. It is a well-established fact that no breed of cattle 

 in the British islands will produce an equal quantity of milk, 

 butter, and cheese from a given amount of food with the pure- 

 bred Ayrshire. Of the precise yield of milk which a cow gives, 

 it is difficult to speak with any degree of certainty, so much 

 depending upon the size, breeding, and age of the animal ; the 

 quantity and quality of the food given, the attention to milking, 

 and regulation of the byre-work, together with many other 

 circumstances, having a certain amount of influence in determin- 



