130 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



and what they give is always rich, but wherever they have been 

 introduced, milking qualities generally deteriorate very much. 

 Their size, too, is beyond the capacity of most Maine farms to 

 feed easily to the point of greatest profit. 



The Ayrshires are a breed especially valuable for dairy purposes. 

 Regarding its origin, Mr. Alton who felt much interest in the sub- 

 ject, and whose opportunities for knowing the facts were second 

 to those of no other, writing about forty years since, says, " The 

 dairy breed of cows in the county of Ayr now so much and so 

 deservedly esteemed is not in their present form an ancient or in- 

 digenous race, but a breed formed during the memory of living 

 individuals, and which have been gradually improving for more 

 than fifty years past, till now they are brought to a degree of per- 

 fection that has never been surpassed as dairy stock in any part of 

 Britain,. or probably in the world. They have increased to double 

 their former size, and they yield about four and some of them five 

 times as much milk as formerly. By greater attention to breeding 

 and feeding, they have been changed from an ill-shaped, puny, mon- 

 grel race of cattle to a fixed and specific breed of excellent color 

 and quality. So gradually and imperceptibly were improvement^ 

 in the breed and condition of the cattle introduced, that although 

 I lived in Ayrshire from 1160 to 1785, and have traversed it every 

 year since, I have difficulty in stating from my own observation or 

 what I have learned from others, cither the precise period when 

 improvement began, or the exact means by which a change so im- 

 portant was wrought." He then relates several instances in which 

 between 1760 and 1770 some larger cows were brought in of the 

 English or Dutch breeds, and of their effect he says, "I am dis- 

 posed to believe that although they rendered the red color with 

 white patches fashionable in Ayr, they coiild not have had much 

 effect in changing the breed into their present highly improved 

 condition," and tliiid^s it mainly due to careful selections and better 

 treatment. 



Mr. Alton says "the chief qualities of a dairy cow are that she 

 gives a copious draught of milk, that she fattens readily and turns 

 out well in the shambles. In all these respects combined the Ayr- 

 shire breed excels all others in Scotland, and is probably superior 

 to any in Britain. They certaiidy yield more milk than any other 

 breed in Europe. No other breed fatten faster, and none cut up 

 better in the shambles, and the fiit is as well mixed with the lean 

 flesh, or marbled, as the butchers say, as any other. They always 



