Sko. 3.] 



COWS— BREEDS COMPARED. 



43 



berry color is preferred. The head is small, fine, and clean ; the face lonj::, 

 and narrow at the muzzle, with a sprightly, yet generally mild, expression ; 

 eye small, smart, and lively ; the horns short, line, and slightly twisted 

 upward, set wide apart at the roots; the neck thin ; body enlarging from 

 fore to hind quarters ; the back straight and narrow, but broad across the 

 loin ; joints rather loose and open ; ribs rather flat ; hind quarters rather 

 thin; bono fine; tail long, fine, and bushy at the end; hair generally thin 

 and soft; udder light color and capacious, extending well forward under the 

 belly ; teats of the cow of medium size, generally set regularly and wide 

 apart; milk-veins prominent and well developed. The carcass of the pure- 

 bred Ayrshire is light, iDarticularly the fore quarters, which is considered by 

 good judges as an index of great milking qualities; but the pelvis is capa- 

 cious and wide over the hips. 



" On the whole, the Ayrshire is good-looking, but wants some of the sjTn- 

 metry and aptitude to fatten which characterize the short-horn, which is 

 supposed to have contributed to build up this valuable breed on the basis 

 of the original stock of the county of Ayr." 



44. Yield of Milk of Ayrshire Cows. — " Youatt estimates the daily yield of 

 an Ayrshire cow, for the first two or three months after calving, at five 

 gallons a day, on an average ; for the next three months, at three gallons ; 

 and for the next four months, at one gallon and a half. This would be 850 

 gallons as the annual average of a cow; but, allowing for some unproductive 

 cows, he estimates the average of a dairy at COO gallons per annum for each 

 cow. Three gallons and a half of the Ayrshire cow's milk will yield one 

 and a half pounds of butter. He therefore reckons 257 lbs. of butter, or 

 514 lbs. of clieese, at the rate of 24 lbs. to 28 gallons of milk, as the yield 

 of every cow, at a fair and perhaps rather low average, in an Ayrshire 

 dairy, during the year. Aiton sets the yield much higher, saying that 

 " thousands of the best Ayrshire dairy-cows, when in prime condition and 

 well fed, produce 1,000 gallons of milk per annum ; that in general three 

 and three-quarters to four gallons of their milk will yield a pound and a 

 half of butter; and that 27| gallons of their milk will make 21 lbs. of full- 

 milk cheese." Mr. Rankin puts it lower — at about 650 to 700 gallons to 

 each cow ; on his own farm of inferior soil, his dairy produced an average 

 of 550 gallons only." 



45. Yield of Milk of Breeds f omparedt — " In a series of experiments on the 

 Earl of ('hcsterfield's dairy farm, at Bradley Hall, interesting as giving 

 positive data on which to form a judgment as to the yield, it was found that, 

 in the height of the season, the Ilolderness cows gave seven gallons and one 

 quart per diem ; the long-honis and Aldcrnej-s, four gallons and three 

 (juarts; the Devons, four gallons and one quart; and that, when ii.jide into 

 butter, the above (piantities gave, respectively, 38^ ounces, 28 ounces, and 

 25 ounces. 



"The Ayrshire, a cow far smaller than the Ilolderness, at five gallons of 

 milk and 34 ounces of butter per day, gives a fair average as to yield of 



