LECTURE NO. 27. 



AYRSHIRE CATTLE THEIR LEADING CHARACTER- 

 ISTICS. 



I. Popularity. 



(1) Ayrshires 'are not popular over so wide an area as 

 Holsteins, but they stand third among dairy breeds in point 

 of numbers in the United States. 



(2) They have been introduced into northerly rather than 

 southerly latitudes and probably because of their hardihood. 



II. Adaptability. 



(1) Ayrshires are decidedly the hardiest of the dairy 

 breeds imported into America, except the Kerry and the 

 French Canadian breeds. 



(2) This natural vigor combined with their activity fits 

 them for areas where the seasons are somewhat rigorous and 

 where some traveling is necessary in gathering food from 

 the pastures. 



(3) They are pre-eminently the cow for the dairy farmer 

 where lands are broken and not particularly fertile, and yet 

 they do equally well relatively under better conditions. 



III. Relative size. 



(1) The average weight of matured Ayrshire cows is put 

 at looo pounds in the standard, but the tendency now is to 

 breed them of a somewhat greater weight. 



(2) They are therefore considerably behind Holsteins in 

 weight, though a trifle ahead of Guernseys. 



IV. Milking qualities. 



(1) Ayrshires have not produced yields so phenomenal 

 as the Holsteins, Guernseys, or Jerseys, but in average milk 

 production they are not excelled if indeed equaled by any 

 other breed. 



(2) The milk is excellent for butter or cheese, hence these 

 cows are equally useful for the cheese factory and the 

 creamery. 



(3) Like the milk of the Holstein it is admirably adapted 

 to calf-rearing in the new or the skimmed form. 



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