LIVE STOCK. 323 



la St. James s Park, where several very large cows Yorkshire 

 are kept tied constantly through the day, for the purpose of sup 

 plying a glass of milk fresh from the spring, for those whose 

 unadulterated taste can relish it, and where the cows are petted 

 and highly fed, I have occasionally inquired for the yield. The 

 answer, from an intelligent and civil keeper, has been, sixteen 

 quarts per day, and, within his knowledge, never more. 



The first cross of the improved Durham stock with the Ayr 

 shire or the Devon has, I may say. almost invariably, produced 

 a fine milking animal. This point may be deemed established. 

 Innumerable instances of this have come under my own ob 

 servation. I found one instance, in Leicestershire, of a cross 

 between a Durham and an Alderney. The cow, the progeny of 

 such cross, produced sixteen pounds of butter per week, for ten 

 successive weeks, upon grass only. This farmer had twenty- 

 two cows, nearly all of them high-bred Durham stock ; but he 

 candidly stated that they were not good milkers. 



The Ayrshire stock are generally deemed the best milking or 

 dairy stock in the kingdom. This is a strong statement : my 

 own observations, which were, however, of necessity limited, 

 would make me hesitate in speaking so emphatically. Their 

 general reputation is, certainly, strongly in their favor. 



The excellent farmers of Ayrshire and it would be difficult 

 in any part of the kingdom to find their superiors are most em- 

 phatical in their preference of their own cows for the dairy. 

 Some of the large farmers, under what is called the bowing or 

 boyening* system, let them to smaller farmers, who pay the 

 owner ten pounds a year for the cow. The owner provides for 

 the cow, and incurs all risks of injury or death. The lessee 

 takes the entire care and management of the cow, and generally 

 gets for his profit two pounds to three pounds per cow. This 

 speaks favorably for the stock, though, to ascertain the exact 

 result, the market value of the produce, and the price of dairy 

 labor, and other circumstances, should be known. 



I visited, in Ayrshire, a principal dairy farmer, of high rep 

 utation. His cows are all of the pure Ayrshire ; he will have 



power. In several parts of London, one is entertained, twice a day, with the cry 

 of &quot; Milk from the cow ! &quot; which is the signal that the cow is passing your door, 

 and, if so you please, you may draw the precious beverage from the fountain. 

 * Boyen means milk-pail. 



