Rural School Leaflet 



859 



The Ayrshire. — The Ayrshire cow is red and white, although occasion- 

 ally a brown and white animal may appear. In such cases, the brown 

 always has a reddish tinge. As with Holsteins, a large proportion of white 

 is popular. The color 

 markings in the Ayrshire 

 are not so regular as the 

 black and white of the 

 Hoist ein. Often a white 

 Ayrshire cow will be 

 flecked with red instead 

 of being marked in large 

 patches or in any regular 

 way. 



The best way to learn 

 the different characteris- 

 tics in color is to see ani- 

 mals of each breed. It 

 is suggested to teachers 

 that the children be encouraged to tell what kinds of cows they have at 

 home and to describe the colors. Visits to good dairy herds in the 

 vicinity of the school will increase the interest in the subject and give the 

 children first-hand study of animal life. 



A Holsicin cow 



The beef breeds 



There are comparatively few of the four great beef breeds — Shorthorn, 

 Hereford, Galloway, and Aberdeen- Angus — in New York State, as this 



is primarily a dairy State. At 

 one time Shorthorn cattle were 

 in demand in New York, how- 

 ever, and in 1873 the highest 

 price ever paid for a cow, 

 $40,000, was paid for 8th 

 Ditches s of Geneva, a Short- 

 horn. Beef cattle have given 

 way to dairy cattle, and we do 

 not find large herds of beef 

 animals except in one or two 

 places. The influence of the 

 Shorthorn blood has been left 

 in our grade and scrub herds, however, and we find many animals re- 

 sembling Shorthorns. The grades of the other beef breeds are not nearly 

 so numerous. 



An Ayrshire cow 



