ALDERNET BREED.] CATTLE, AND THEIE VAEIETIES. 



[ktloe breed. 



ungainly form of the Alderney, there lurked 

 qualities of excellence of the highest degree. 



" The produce of these small animals, botli 

 in milk and butter," says Mr. Milburn, "is 

 very great, and may be taken, in fair speci- 

 mens, at twenty quarts of milk daily, and ten 

 pounds of butter in the week, during the 

 months of April, Maj^, June, July, and Au- 

 gust. Instances are recorded of cows giving 

 twenty-six quarts of milk in the twenty-four 

 hours, and yielding as much as fourteen pounds 

 of butter per week ! Erom this it is clear 

 that the cream is of a very rich quality ; the 

 milk itself being superior to much of the 

 town-made cream, and the cream almost re- 

 sembling cream-cheese. It is considered too 

 rich by many persons for making cheese; but 

 instances are recorded of successful cheese- 

 making from this milk. M. Le Eeuvre, of La 

 Hogue, succeeded in making cheese of a very 

 superior quality from this fine milk; equal, 

 indeed, to double Gloucester. Fourteen quarts 

 of milk being capable of producing a pound of 

 butter, the same quantity would give a pound 

 and a-half of cheese ; and the whey, or drain- 

 ings, of twenty pounds of this cheese, would 

 produce four pounds of butter, somewhat in- 

 ferior for toast, but quite adequate for the 

 making of pastry. Compared with the milk 

 of any other cows celebrated for dairy pur- 

 poses, that of the Alderney is very superior. 

 An experiment was made, iu the months of 

 May, June, July, and August, between eight 

 Alderney and eight Kerry cows. In the first 

 month, the Alderneys gave 25 per cent, of 

 cream, against 10 per cent, of Kerrys; in 

 June, 20 per cent, against 10 ; in July, 23 per 

 cent, against 10 ; and in August, 16 per cent, 

 against 13 ; giving an average of about 100 

 per cent, more cream than the Kerrys — a race 

 of cows rather celebrated for dairy qualities. 

 But this was not all. Three pints of cream 

 from the Alderneys produced lib. 8|oz. of 

 butter; from the Kerrys, lib. 4|-oz. This, 

 too, was taken in the month of August, when 

 it will be seen the milk of tlie Alderneys was 

 falling oft'. The experiment was made by Mr. 

 'White, on the farm of the Hon. K. Clive, 

 of Oakley Park, and deserves every credit, as 

 it seems to have been carefully made." These 

 facts sufficiently establish the great value of 

 fcho Alderneys. 

 61.G 



SCOTTISH KYLOE BREED. 



With respect to other breeds of wliich we 

 have as yet said nothing, we may observe, that 

 in the Highlands of Scotland, a race of small 

 black cattle prevails, of which large herds are 

 driven southwards, and depastured iu the 

 grazing-lands of England. Of these, numbers 

 are brought to the London market. Many 

 varieties of the race exist. Among them we 

 may particularise the Kyloes of the Western 

 Islands and the Hebrides — -small, but hardy 

 and well-formed cattle, thriving on coarse fare, 

 and producing fine-grained and high-flavoured 

 meat. The different islands of the Hebrides 

 contain, says Mr. Touatt, "about one hundred 

 and fifty thousand of these cattle, of which it 

 is calculated that one-fifth are annually sent 

 to the mainland, principally through Jura, or 

 across the ferry of the Isle of Skye. If these 

 average about £5 per head, the amount will 

 be £150,000, or more than the rental of the 

 whole island, which Mr. Macdonald calculated 

 at £106,720, but which now produces a greater 

 sum. Cattle, therefore, constitute the staple 

 commodity of the Hebrides. Some thousands 

 are annually exported from the island of Islay 

 alone." 



The cattle of this breed are so called from 

 the f\ict of their having crossed the Kyles, or 

 ferries, with which the Highlands of Scotland 

 abound. They formed the models which Bake- 

 well had in view when endeavouring to im- 

 prove the Leicestershire breed; and had he 

 been better acquainted with them in the early 

 stages, they might have taken their part in 

 the crossings which were made with the view 

 of improving the Dishley herd. They may be 

 esteemed the finest breed of the largest middle- 

 horned race, being possessed of long rumps, 

 loins, and crops, with but a moderate amount 

 of offal. As length in these parts is generally 

 connected or associated with thinness of chest, 

 buttocks, and neck, it is not unlikely that 

 improvements in this direction would enable 

 the dairyman to obtain a rich milk-secreting 

 animal, with considerable aptitude to fatten 

 and form flesh on the most valuable parts, 

 when she passed from his hands into those of 

 the grazier. 



The Kyloe cow is of a wild disposition, 

 which is, in a great degree, counterbalanced bj 



