CROSSES. — FATTENING QUALITIES. 23 



object; and the cows have obtained a just and world- 

 wide reputation for this quality. The oxen are, however, 

 very fair as working cattle, though they cannot be said 

 to excel other breeds in this respect. The Ayrshire 

 steer may be fed and turned at three years old, but for 

 feeding purposes the Ayrshires are greatly improved 

 by a cross with the short-horns, provided regard is had 

 to the size of the animals. It is the opinion of good 

 breeders that a high-bred short-horn bull and a large- 

 sized Ayrshire cow will produce a calf which will come 

 to maturity earlier, and attain greater weight, and sell 

 for more money, than a pure-bred Ayrshire. This cross, 

 with feeding from the start, may be sold fat at two or 

 three years old, the improvement being especially seen 

 in the earlier maturity and the size. Even Youatt, 

 who maintains that the fattening properties of the Ayr- 

 shires have been somewhat exaggerated, admits that 

 they will fatten kindly and profitably, and that their 

 meat will be good; while he also asserts that they 

 unite, perhaps, to a greater degree than any other 

 breed, the supposed incompatible qualities of yielding 

 a great deal of milk and beef. 



In the cross with the short-horn, the form becomes 

 ordinarily more symmetrical, while there is, perhaps, 

 little risk of lessening the milking qualities of the off- 

 spring, if sufficient regard is paid to the selection of the 

 individual animals to breed from. It is thought by 

 some that in the breeding of animals it is the male 

 which gives the external form, or the bony and muscu- 

 lar system of the young, while the female imparts the 

 respiratory organs, the circulation of the blood, the 

 mucous membranes, the organs of secretion, &c. 



If this principle is true, it follows that the milking 

 qualities come chiefly from the mother, and that the 

 bull can not materially alter the conditions which 



