298 THE BREEDS OF LIVE-STOCK 



yield of milk and butter, on rough, hilly pastures, or with- 

 out heavy grain-feeding in the winter, the Ayrshire is in a 

 class by herself. It is difficult to give figures of produc- 

 tion that are at all representative, since as much, if not 

 more, depends on the system of care and management as 

 on the cow herself. From reports of a number of herds 

 which may be considered reliable, as indicating the dairy 

 qualities of the Ayrshire breed, it may be stated that 

 herds numbering twenty animals, of all ages, will yield, as 

 an average, 6500 pounds of milk and 300 pounds of 

 butter-fat. This estimate presupposes that the herd is fed 

 for profit, but not forced in any sense of the word. A 

 number of herds fed a liberal allowance of grain the year 

 round, and managed with the view of yielding the maxi- 

 mum amount of milk and butter, have averaged over 8000 

 pounds of milk and 350 pounds of butter-fat. Because 

 the Ayrshire cow is perhaps not capable of making forced 

 weekly, or even yearly, milk and butter records equal to 

 those of some of the other breeds, and furthermore, be- 

 cause she has been so completely in the hands of practical 

 dairymen, she has never been forced in her production in 

 the generally accepted sense of the term. As a conse- 

 quence, the cows of this breed are in a more normal con- 

 dition than those of almost any other. 



Because the butter-fat globules are small, the cream does 

 not rise so quickly as in the case of some of the other dairy 

 breeds, and as a consequence Ayrshire milk is well adapted 

 for shipping to city markets, and for use as a beverage. 



328. Other uses of Ayrshires. It was formerly 

 thought that Ayrshire milk was peculiarly adapted to 

 cheese-making. With our present-day information on 

 this subject, however, this view is no longer generally held, 

 although the milk is used for this purpose. 



