ATUSUIUES.] 



C A TT L E, AM) T 1 1 i: I n V A Til ETI E3. 



[ayrsiiibes. 



hefttl, bones, boms, and all parts of least value, 

 small; and the <::^eneral li-^uro compact and 

 well proportioned." Sueli is Mr. Aiton's 

 description ; but, with the exception of thick- 

 ness of buttock, it will bo ina[)prc)priate to the 

 present Ayrshire cow. There are two otlier 

 characteristics which seem so thorous^hly be- 

 longing to this breed, that they ought not to 

 be passed over. The one is the black muzzle, 

 and the other tlio yellow red, which seems 

 to bo the natural colour of the race— arraiii^ed, 

 not in considerable quantities, but in blots or 

 patches. Tims the animals generally present 

 a sort of checked aspect of golden yellow, red, 

 and white. 



The milk and butter yielded by the Ayrshire 

 cow are very considerable. Indeed, to develop 

 her milking qualities the greatest pains have 

 been taken in her native county. An Ayrshire 

 cow will give from GOO to SOO gallons of milk 

 in the course of the year ; and live gallons per 

 dav is by no means uncommon for three months 

 after calving. This, however, falls short of 

 Colonel Fullarton's estimate, in his AijricuUiire 

 of Ayrshire, where, it is affirmed that, though 

 the Ayrshire cow will not, when fat, weigh more 

 than twenty to forty English stones, " it is not 

 uncommon for these small cows to give from 

 twenty-four to thirty-four English quarts of 

 milk daily during the summer months, while 

 some of them will give as much as forty quarts." 

 It is found that three gallons and a-half of 

 such milk will yield a pound and a-half of 

 butter ; so that as much as 260 pounds of 

 butter will be produced by an Ayrshire cow ; 

 and it is no uncommon thing to have eight or 

 nine pounds given by one of these cows for 

 some weeks after calving. About twenty-six 

 gallons of milk will aflbrd fourteen pounds of 

 cheese ; or a good cow will vield thirty-five 

 stones of cheese per annum. 



A question has been raised, as to whether 

 the rich districts of Ayrshire ought to be 

 occupied by this breed of cattle, as they are 

 supposed to be better adapted to the means of 

 the cotter than those of the grazier. To this 

 it has been replied, "that while the cold rains, 

 so prevalent in that county, would render it 

 problematical whether the short-horns would 

 be sufficiently hardy, it is also certain that the 

 second-rate pasturage of much of the grains 

 land is more suitable for the dairy cow, possess- 

 •1 o 



ing tho hardit\C89 of the Ayrshire breed, thaa 

 calculated for fattening tho Ichs enduring 

 «hort-horii." Wlmlover attempted improve- 

 ments which have been mado in tho Ayrahiro 

 breed, they have not succeeded in cuhanciiiq; 

 their milking qualities. To breed what would 

 sell in England, and what would feed as steers, 

 has been an object pretty generally pursued ; 

 and, as the larger breed of Ayrshire cattle are 

 more profitable for the market than the smaller, 

 which are more suitable for tho dairy, the 

 former have been more encouraged. 



The dilllculties which present themselves, in 

 endeavouring to settle the origin of the dif- 

 ferent species of our domestic animals, are very 

 great. It is hardly possible to believe that 

 the long-horned Craven cow and the polled 

 Angus, the gentle, quiet short-horn, and the 

 wild and ferocious breed of Chilliughaui, can 

 be of the same origin. The question is, how- 

 ever, one of great latitude, and takes by far 

 too wide a range to be here discussed ; but 

 there does not seem any reasonable doubt for 

 the fact, that, within certain limits, circum- 

 stances alone will have a great tendency to 

 chaup'o the conformations and characteristics 



O 



of a species. Thus, in cold countries, white 

 predominates over other colours ; and wool or 

 fur is the species of covering with which na- 

 ture clothes the animals. In hotter climates, 

 brown is most prevalent, and hair takes the 

 place of the wool and the fur. In tropical 

 ' countries, the dun hue obtains, and down 

 spreads itself over tlie bodies of the brute 

 creation. " So easy is the adaptation of or- 

 ganised beings to the state in which they 

 are placed," observes a writer on this subject, 

 " and so vast is the expansibility of nature, that 

 she can extend, or shorten, or increase, or 

 diminish conformation, so as to render it 

 suitable to the wants, the happiness, and the 

 existence of the animal. Thus, though the 

 hones of the bison and the Galloway may pre- 

 sent but small distinction, yet the diflorence 

 of skin, of mane, and of muscle, would make 

 an oi'dinary observer startle at the idea of 

 their having a common origin. The skull of a 

 wolf and that of a wild dog of New Holland, 

 are all but identical ; and it is possible that 

 the influence of pasture may lengthen or 

 shorten the horns — that by breeding froai 

 lonji or short-horned, or from hornless animals, 



GIO 



