THE DAIET BREEDS OF CATTLE 291 



United States Consular Reports, 1887; Holstein Cattle, Dudley 

 Miller; Die Rindviehzucht im In und Auslande, J. Hansen and 

 A. Hermes, Leipzig, Carl Schmidt & Co., 2 volumes (1905) ; Friesch 

 Rundvee Stamboek, 32 volumes, 1880-1906; The Holstein-Friesian 

 Yearbook, 1901-1912, 12 volumes, F. L. Houghton; Western Hol- 

 stein-Friesian Herd-book, 1 volume, 1895, Western Holstein-Friesian 

 Association; The Holstein-Friesian Register, Brattleboro, Ver- 

 mont, F. L. Houghton ; The Holstein-Friesian World, Eastern and 

 Western Editions alternating weekly, Lacona, New York and 

 Madison, Wisconsin, the former edited by Hastings and Pres- 

 cott, the* latter by C. B. Brown and Son. 



AYRSHIRE CATTLE. Plate X. Figs. 49, 50. 

 By Harry Hayward 



322. The Ayrshire is one of the four principal breeds of 

 dairy cattle in America. Their popularity is more 

 recent than that of the three other breeds, but they 

 are making rapid gains in favor. 



323. History in Scotland. The Ayrshire did not have 

 its origin in this country, but was brought from Scotland, 

 its native home, in the early part of the last century. It 

 takes its name from the county Ayr, although in its for- 

 mative period it was known as the Dunlop and the Cun- 

 ningham breed. 



From the descriptions of Ayr and the adjacent territory, 

 given by Low, an English writer on agricultural matters, 

 it may be inferred that agricultural conditions in that 

 country, at the close of the Revolutionary War, were at 

 a low ebb. " There were no fallows, no sown grasses, no 

 carts nor wagons and no straw yards; no roots were 

 grown, very little straw and no hay, save the small amounts 

 cut from the bogs and wastes. Under these conditions 



