Daii-ij Suggestions front. Europe. 187 



Scotch dairyinen say that the size of the farm most profitable is one 

 which can be run by the family, without hired help, which is often 

 expensive and inefficient. Married men get $225 a year, with house and 

 potatoes furnished. Single men receive from $175 to $190 and board. 



DAIRY CATTLE. 



In this section of Scotland dairying is almost the sole occupation of 

 the farmers. The cows kept are practically all high grade or pure- 

 bred Ayrshires, and as a class are efficient and economic producers. 

 Heifer calves from the best cows are raised on all the farms. A good 

 registered Ayrshire cow brings from $125 to $200 and a good grade cow 

 $80 to $100. Heifers drop their first calf at from 2i/o to 3 years of age. 

 The cows that are good producers are kept as long as they are healthy. 

 The poor milkers are disposed of while young, on the dairy market, to 

 other dairymen, or fed for beef. In many herds in Scotland are cows 

 twenty years old, ;ind still good producers, but in herds which are fed 



A typical scene in Ayrshire. 



heavily on grain they do not last as long, and the oldest cow is not more 

 than twelve years old. As a rule, the sires used are from high pro- 

 ducing dams, rather than show stock. On farms where milk is sold for 

 direct consumption the cows are usually dry for six weeks, and on farms 

 where cheese is made, the cows are frequently dry for three months 

 during the winter. The best dairymen expect to receive $100 per 

 cow per year, when the milk is soli at an average price of $1.4.0 per 100 

 pounds. To show the efficiency of the Ayrshire cows it is only neces- 

 sary to state that the production on 18 farms near Kilmarnock in 1907 

 reached the high average of 6,920 pounds of 3.9 per cent, milk per 

 cow, including heifers with their first calf. In comparing the yield of 

 the Ayrshire cows in Scotland with the cows in the United States, con- 

 sideration must be given to the fad that the cows in Scotland are fed 

 very little grain. 



About one-half of the cows in Scotland are milked by women and 

 girls, and the average is eight cows to the milker. Cows are milked 



