AYRSHIRE CATTLE. 195 



a dairy and made considerable of cheese." His eflPorts to procure the Ayrshire 

 cows show that they had, even at that time, a high reputation for this object. 

 Colonel Le Couteur, in a paper on the Jersey or Alderney cow, published in 

 the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, refers to a statement 

 by Quayle that the Ayrshire was a cross of the Short-horn and Alderney, and 

 adds, himself, that "there is considerable affinity between the two breeds," 

 meaning the Ayrshire and Alderney. 



Rawlin also says, in reference to the Ayrshire breed : " It is said to be a mix- 

 ture by bulls brought from the Island of Alderney with their own, or the old 

 race of cows." 



Martin says : " At some period or other there has evidently been a cross with 

 the Durham or Holderness, and perhaps, also, with the Alderney breed." 



Professor Low, in his " Illustrations of British Quadrupeds," says: "From 

 all the evidence of which, in the absence of authentic documents, the case ad- 

 mits, the dairy breed of Ayrshire cows owes the characteristics which distinguish 

 it from the older race, to a mixture of the blood of the races of the continent, and 

 of the dairy breed of Alderney." 



In addition to the foregoing evidence respecting the origin of the Ayrshire 

 cattle, it should be stated that the present leading type of the breed was formed 

 in part by an infusion of the blood of the Kyloe or West Highland breed. This 

 appeared in the first instance, probably, in what has been called the Swinley 

 variety. 



The facts, as authentically obtained by myself in Scotland, on this point are 

 substantially as follows : Theophilus Parton, of Swinley farm, near Dairy, 

 Ayrshire, about forty-five years ago, took great pains to establish a herd of what 

 were deemed the best Ayrshire cattle, into which he infused a strain of the 

 West Highland blood, the particular degree of which is not publicly or gene- 

 rally known. The Swinley stock differs from the older Ayrshire in having a 

 shorter head, with more breadth across the eyes, more upright and spreading 

 horns, more hair, and that of a more mossy character, and generally better 

 constitutions. They are also somewhat smaller boned than old stock, though 

 from their superior symmetry and greater tendency to fatten they are fully 

 equal to the former in weight of carcass when slaughtered. 



The following points given by the Ayrshire Agricultural Association in 1S53, 

 "as indicating superior quality," will give an idea of the standard of Ayrshire 

 cattle as recognized by the leading breeders : Head short ; forehead wide ; nose 

 fine, between the muzzle and the eyes ; muzzle moderately large ; eyes full and 

 lively ; horns widely set on, inclining upwards, and curving slightly inwards ; 

 neck long and straight from the head to the top of the shoulders, free from loose 

 skin in the underside, fine at its junction with the head, and the muscles sym- 

 metrically enlarging towards the shoulders ; shoulders thin at the top ; brisket 

 light ; the whole fore-quarter thin in front, and gradually increasing in depth 

 and width backwards ; back short and straight ; spine well defined, especially 

 at the shoulders ; short ribs arched ; the body deep at the flanks ; and the milk 

 veins well developed; pelvis long, broad, and straight; hook (or hip) bones 

 wide apart, and not much overlaid with fat ; thighs deep and broad ; tail long 

 and slender, and set on a level with the back ; milk vessel (udder) capacious, 

 and extending well forward ; hinder-part broad, and firmly attached to the body ; 

 the sole or under surface nearly level ; the teats from two to two and a half 

 inches in length, equal in thickness, and hanging perpendicularly ; their dis- 

 tance apart at the sides should be equal to about one-third the length of the 

 vessel, and across to about one-half of the breadth ; legs short, the bones fine, 

 and the joints firm ; skin soft and elastic, and covered with soft, close, and 

 woolly hair ; the colors preferred are brown, or brown and white, the colors 

 being distinctly defined ; weight of the animal when fattened about forty impe- 

 rial stones, (that is 560 pounds,) sinking the offal. 



