BREEDS OF DAIRY CATTLE 121 



the utmost economy in the utilization of food. Yet, like all other 

 good dairy cattle, the Ayrshire responds promptly and profitably to 

 liberal feeding. The Scotch have a saying, taught by experience, 

 that "the cow gives her milk by the mouV 



Ayrshires are of medium size among dairy cattle. The bulls 

 attain a weight of 1,400 to 1,800 pounds at maturity, sometimes being 

 larger. 



The cows weigh 900 to 1,100 pounds, averaging probably 1,000 

 pounds in a well-maintained herd. They are short-legged, fine- 

 boned, and very active. The general form is of the wedge shape, re- 

 garded as typical of cows of dairy excellence; and this shape is not 

 from any weakness forward, but rather because of uncommon devel- 

 opment and strength of body and hind quarters. Good specimens of 

 the breed, when in milk, do not carry a pound of extra flesh. The 

 prevailing color of the body is red and white, variously proportioned ; 

 in spots, not mixed. Probably three-fourths of all the breed can be 

 thus described as to color. A generation ago the dark markings pre- 

 dominated ; but there is now a drift toward more white. The red is 

 sometimes bright, but often of a rich, shiny brown, like the shell of 

 a horse chestnut, and the coat of a thrifty Ayrshire is equally bright 

 and shining. _ Nearly all good animals of this breed have broad, flat, 

 well-arched ribs, giving room for capacious digestive apparatus. 



Doctor Sturtevant thus describes the milking parts of the Ayr- 

 shire cow: "The udder has been the point toward which the search 

 after quality has been directed by the careful Scotchman for a long 

 period of time. It is well held up to the body, and in the types of the 

 breed extend far forward and back, with a broad and level sole. The 

 teats are small and of a cylindrical shape rather than cone-shaped, as 

 seen in other cows." The teats are, however, often too small for com- 

 fortable milking ; but careful breeders have remedied this defect, and 

 whole herds can be found with superb udders and teats of good size, 

 though rarely large. 



The Ayrshire is of a highly nervous temperament. The cow 

 has a superabundance of nerves and is willing to employ them, upon 

 instant demand, in self-defense or self-support. The bulls, if prop- 

 erly handled, are not fractious, but the cows are rather inclined to be 

 quarrelsome. The Ayrshire cow is a large and persistent milker. A 

 yield of 5,500 pounds a year, as an average for a working herd in 

 good hands. 



The milk of the Ayrshire is not exceptionally rich, but some- 

 what above the average. Herd records show 3^ to 4 per cent of 

 butter fat in the mixed milk throughout the year. The milk of this 

 breed is very uniform in its physical character, the fat globules being 

 small, even in size, and not free to separate from the milk. Cream 

 rises slowly and has comparatively little color. The Ayrshire is there- 

 fore not a first-class butter cow, but its milk is admirably suited for 

 town and city supply, being safely above legal standards, uniform, 

 and capable of long journeys and rough handling without injury. 

 The breeders of Ayrshire cattle in America organized in the vear 

 1863 ajad began the publication of a herdbook. The interests of the 



