94 AMERICAN CATTLE. 



the system of breeding in and in. He also adheres to that 

 golden rule of breeding, the careful selection of the female ; and, 

 indeed, it is not a small sum that would induce the Hebridean 

 farmer to part with any of his picked cows. 



" It will be concluded, from what we have said of the milking 

 properties of the Kyloe, that the dairy is considered as a matter 

 of little consequence in the Hebrides; and the farmer rarely 

 keeps more milk cows than will furnish his family with milk, 

 and butter and cheese. The Highland cow will not yield more 

 than a third part of the milk that is obtained from the Ayrshire 

 one at no great distance on the main land ; but that milk is 

 exceedingly rich, and the butter procured from it is excellent. 



" The management of the dairy is exceedingly simple, and, 

 from the very simplicity of it, other districts may learn a useful 

 lesson. The cows are driven as slowly and quietly as possible 

 to the fold ; the wild character of the animals, as well as a regard 

 to the quality of the milk, show the propriety of this. They 

 are carefully drained to the last drop, not only on account of the 

 superior richness of the latter portion of the milk, but because 

 the retention of any part is apt to hasten, if it does not produce, 

 that which is one of the principal objections to the Highland 

 cows as milkers, the speedy drying up of their milk. The milk 

 is carried to the house with as little disturbance as practicable, 

 and put into vessels of not more than two or three inches in 

 depth. The cream is supposed to rise more rapidly in these 

 shallow vessels ; and it is removed in the course of eighteen 

 hours. A cow will not, on the average, yield more than 22 Ibs. 

 of butter (of 24 oz. each,) in the summer season; she will yield 

 about 90 Ibs. of cheese, which is much liked by some on account 

 of the aromatic flavor which is given to it by the mixture of 

 rose-leaves, cinnamon, mace, cloves, and lemon with the rennet. 



" Oxen are never used for the plough or on the road, on any 

 of the Hebrides. 



