12 POINTS. — ORIGIN. 



and white, spotted or mottled, not roan like many of the 

 short-horns, but often presenting a bright contrast of 

 colors. They are sometimes, though rarely, nearly or 

 quite all red, and sometimes black and white ; but the 

 favorite color is red and white brightly contrasted, and 

 by some, strawberry-color is preferred. The head is 

 small, fine, and clean ; the face long, and narrow at the 

 muzzle, with a sprightly yet generally mild expression ; 

 eye small, smart, and lively ; the horns short, fine, and 

 slightly twisted upwards, set wide apart at the roots ; 

 the neck thin ; body enlarging from fore to hind quar- 

 ters ; the back straight and narrow, but broad across 

 the loin ; joints rather loose and open ; ribs rather flat ; 

 hind quarters rather thin ;-bone 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, particularly the fore quarters, which is consid- 

 ered by good judges as an index of great milking qual- 

 ities ; but the pelvis is capacious and wide over the hips. 

 On the whole, the Ayrshire is good-looking, but 

 wants some of the symmetry 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; a county extending along the eastern shore 

 of the Frith of Clyde, in the south-western part of 

 Scotland, and divided into three districts, known as 

 Carrick, Cunningham, and Kyle : the first famous as 

 the lordship of Robert Bruce, the last for the produc- 

 tion of this, one of the most remarkable dairy breeds 

 of cows in the world. The original stock of this 

 county, which undoubtedly formed the basis of the 



