CATTLE HfSTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF BREEDS. 763 



considered an index of great milking qualities, but the pelvis is 

 capacious and wide over the hips. 



While the Ayrshire lacks something of the symmetry and 

 aptitude to fatten found in the Short-horn, it is, on the whole, a 

 good-looking animal. While there is some doubt about the 

 matter, I find the best authorities agree in the probability that 

 the Ayrshire cow was produced by a cross of Short-horn blood 

 on the small native cattle before described, or at least that they 

 contributed to its production. 



All authorities agree in giving to the breed a high rank as 

 dairy cows. Mr. Aiton says : " Hundreds and thousands of 

 the best Scotch dairy cows, when they are in their best condition 

 and well fed, yield at the rate of one thousand gallons of milk 

 in one year ; that in general from three and three-quarters to four 

 gallons of their milk will make a pound of butter. ' This state- 

 ment applies to choice cows, but Mr. Rankine reports that two 

 dairymen of his acquaintance, one of whom kept from twenty 

 to thirty, and the other from thirty to forty cows, reported to 

 him an average yield per cow of six hundred and fifty gallons 

 in the first case and six hundred and eighty-seven and one-half 

 in the second. One of these dairymen reported that a fraction 

 more than two and one-half gallons of milk made a pound of 

 butter, and thirty-two gallons of new milk made thirty-six 

 pounds of cheese or forty-eight gallons of skimmed milk pro- 

 duced the same quantity. 



In further confirmation of the value of the Ayrshire as a 

 dairy cow, I quote from Allen's " American Cattle : " " The quan- 

 tity of milk yielded by the Ayrshire cow is, considering her size, 

 very great. Five gallons daily for two or three months after 

 calving may be considered as not more than an average quan- 

 tity. Three gallons daily will be given for the next three 

 months, and one gallon and a half during the succeeding four 

 months. This would amount to more than eight hundred and 

 fifty gallons; but allowing for some unproductive cows, six hun- 

 dred gallons per year, is the average quantity obtained annu- 

 ally from each cow. Three gallons and a half of this milk 

 will yield about a pound and a half, avoirdupois, of butter, 



