THE AYRSHIRE.?. 



113 



We give a cut of the most fashionable modern style of the 

 Ayrshire cow, of late importation, drawn from life. 



Plate 15. Ayrshire Cow. 



" The origin of the Ayrshire cow, is even at the present day 

 a matter of dispute ; all that is certainly known about her, is, 

 that a century ago, (1733,) there was no such breed in Cunning- 

 ham, or Ayrshire, or Scotland. Did the Ayrshire cattle arise 

 entirely from a careful selection of the best of the native breed ? 

 if they did, it is a circumstance unparalleled in the history of 

 agriculture. The native breed may be ameliorated by careful 

 selection, its value may be incalculably increased ; some good 

 qualities some of its best qualities may be for the first time 

 developed ; but yet there will be some resemblance to the origi- 

 nal stock, and the more we examine the animal, the more clearly 

 we can trace out the characteristic points of the ancestor, 

 although every one of them improved. 



"Mr. Aiton gives the following description of the Ayrshire 

 cattle, (1783,) fifty years ago: 'The cows kept in the districts 



